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MEMOIR 


LIEUT.-COL.  JOHN  T.  GREBLE, 


UNITED  STATES  ARMY. 


BY 
BENSON   J.   LOSSING. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRINTED    FOR    PRIVATE    CIRCULATION. 

1870. 


(I.  T.  BTOCKDAI.E,  PRINTER, 
PnlLADEI.PHlA. 


!"  MUScv 
...  -   HILL 
^^-  VVAY  AND  AVE.  46 

LOtj  ANGELES,  CALIF 


THIS    VOLUME, 

THE  RESULT  OP  A  LABOR  OF  LOVE, 

GIVEN    BECAUSE    OF   THE    NOBLE    CHARACTER 

AND    PATRIOTIC    DEEDS    OF    THE     SUBJECT    OF    IT, 

IS  GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED 

TO    THE    SURVIVING    SOLDIERS    OF    THE    ARMY 
FOR  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


20260(1 


MEMOIR. 


"  I  HAVE  often  heard,"  says  Sallust,  "  that  Quintus 
Maximns,  Pnblius  Scipio,  and  other  renowned  per- 
sons of  the  Roman  Commonwealth,  nsed  to  say  that 
whenever  they  beheld  the  images  of  their  ancestors, 
they  felt  their  minds  vehemently  excited  to  virtue. 
It  could  not  be  the  wax  nor  the  marble  that  possessed 
this  power,  but  the  recollection  of  their  great  actions 
that  kindled  a  generous  flame  in  their  breasts  which 
could  not  be  quelled  till  they  also,  by  Virtue,  had 
acquired  equal  fame  and  glory." 

In  our  better  era,  and  in  our  country  of  free  thought 
and  action,  the  Biographer  may  produce  such  images 
in  more  impressive,  because  historic  forms,  and  so 
become  a  public  benefactor. 

If  the  writer  of  this  memoir  wished  to  kindle  in 
the  breasts  of  his  young  countrymen  a  glowing  de- 
sire for  the  accomplishment  of  great  and  good  deeds  ; 
a  desire  which  "  could  not  be  quelled  till  they  also 
by  virtue  had  acquired  equal  fame  and  glory,"  he 
would  choose  for  his  subject  the  one  on  which  his 
pen  is  now  employed  for  the  satisfaction  of  loving 


6 

friends,  for  the  virtues  of  John  T,  Geeble  were 
sublime. 

From  the  duchy  south  of  the  great  Thuriugian 
forests,  now  known  as  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  Andrew 
Grebel,  a  sturdy  young  German,  who  was  born  a 
subject  of  Duke  John  Ernest,  emigrated  to  America 
in  1742,  and  became  a  foster-citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia. There  he  married  Kachel  Schope,  a  native  of 
picturesque  Swabia,  through  which  the  Danube  flows, 
and  ranges  of  the  Alps  and  the  Black  Forest  hills 
traverse.  She  settled  in  Philadelphia,  wdth  her 
parents,  seven  years  before  he  who  was  to  be  her  hus- 
band came  over  the  sea.  These  were  the  ancestors 
of  the  family  in  Philadelphia,  who  write  their  name 
Greble. 

The  first  immigrant  and  his  sons  and  sons-in-law 
w^ere  active  in  the  military  service  during  our  old 
Avar  for  independence.  The  father  and  his  son  Jacob 
were  with  "Washington  in  the  battle  of  Trenton,  and 
suffered  the  many  hardships  to  which  the  little  army 
of  patriots  was  exposed  at  that  gloomy  period  of  the 
strife.  They  were  also  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth. 
His  son  John  was  in  the  army  at  the  same  time,  and 
fought  in  several  battles.  Caspar,  another  son,  was 
a  member  of  Mercer's  "Flying  Camp,"  a  sort  of 
guerrilla  organization,  and  after  the  death  of  the 
leader,  he  entered  the  continental  naval  service. 
George,  a  little  son,  only  twelve  years  of  age,  was  a 
drummer-boy  in  the  militia,  and  afterward  made 
several  sea  voyages  in  a  privateer  vessel.  Henry 
Dentzel,  who  married  Andrew's  daughter  Mary,  and 


Adam  Witherstein,  the  husband  of  her  sister  Sophia, 
were  also  in  the  army,  and  were  in  several  engage- 
ments. 

William  Greble,  another  of  Andrew's  sons,  mar- 
ried Catharine  Yhost,  of  PhiladeliDhia,  whose  parents 
were  natives  of  Swabia.  Their  fourth  son,  Edwin, 
married  Susan  Yirginia,  daughter  of  Robert  Major, 
of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  whose  father,  Wil- 
liam Major,  was  an  active  soldier  in  the  Continental 
Army.  Robert  Major's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Isaac 
Jones,  a  birth-right  member  of  the  Society  of  Fi-iends 
or  Quakers.  His  ancestor,  a  native  of  Wales,  came 
to  America  with  "William  Penn,  and  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  near  Chester,  on  the  Delaware,  where 
the  founder  of  Pennsylvania  first  landed.  In  the 
year  1689,  he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  newly-founded 
city  of  Philadelphia.  Isaac,  in  violation  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  insists  upon 
absolute  non-resistance,  entered  the  Continental 
army  as  a  soldier.  For  this  oftence  he  was  disowned 
as  a  member  of  the  Society,  but  he  continued  to 
worship  with  them  until  his  death. 

Edwin  Greble  and  Susan  Virginia  Major,  wedded 
in  1831,  were  the  parents  of  John  T.  Greble.  He 
was  their  first  son,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  nineteenth  day  of  January,  1834. 
He  was  an  inheritor  of  excellent  moral  and  intel- 
lectual qualities  that  formed  the  solid  foundations  of 
that  wealth  of  good  character  which  he  possessed  in 
mature  years.  This  is  an  incident  not  to  be  slightly 
estimated  in  making  up  the  sum  of  a  man's  life,  for 


8 

all  experience  teaches  that  in  human  character  as  in 
the  physical  world,  like  begets  like,  and  aberrations 
are  generally  the  consequences  of  modifying  circum- 
stances. 

The  childhood  of  young  Greble  was  passed  among 
the  influences  of  most  salutary  surroundings.  His 
home  was  the  abode  of  domestic  harmony,  of  liberal 
culture,  of  personal  refinement  of  thought  and  man- 
ners, and  other  Christian  graces  which  make  the 
household  the  nursery  of  great  and  good  men  and 
women. 

His  own  gentleness  of  spirit,  his  love  of  truth,  his 
nobility  of  impulse,  his  carefulness  of  the  feelings  of 
others,  and  his  eagerness  for  knowledge,  responded 
lovingly  to  these  home  influences,  as  does  the  chord 
to  the  touch  of  the  musician,  and  co-operated  with 
wise  parental  discipline  in  making  him  a  model  of  a 
boy  of  satisfactory  promise,  which  his  manhood  fully 
redeemed. 

Faithfulness  was  a  quality  of  his  character  early 
developed.  He  could  never  be  tempted  from  a  post 
of  duty.  A  single  example  is  a  sufiicient  illustra- 
tion here :  when  he  was  a  small  school -boy  he  was 
called  one  morning  by  his  mother  to  leave  an  absorb- 
ing contest  of  little  wooden  soldiers  which  he  was 
superintending,  to  guard  from  harm  a  young  sister 
left  to  play  with  a  hoop  on  the  side-walk.  He 
quickly  and  cheerfully  said,  "Yes,  ma,"  and  seated 
himself  on  the  front  door  step,  in  dutiful  obedience. 
The  most  seductive  attempts  of  other  little  boys  to 
draw  him  away  to  play  in  the  public  square  near  by. 


9 

were  in  vain.  He  had  a  charge.  He  felt  the  respon- 
sibility. He  refused  to  leave,  and  nobly  performed 
his  prescribed  duty.  When  one  of  the  tempters  said 
"  Oh,  nothing  will  happen  to  her ;"  he  promptly  re- 
plied, "Of  course  not  while  /am  here."  With  the 
same  inborn  spirit  he  uttered  his  later  words  at  his 
gun  on  the  field  of  battle  where  he  fell. 

In  childhood  young  Greble's  physical  frame  was 
slight  and  delicate,  and  while  not  discarding  the 
more  boisterous  out-door  plays  of  other  boys,  he  pre- 
ferred the  fountain  of  knowledge  and  the  gentle 
amusements  w^ithin  the  family  circle.  He  was  so 
Avinning  in  his  ways  that  it  was  always  a  joy  for  his 
mother,  and  the  other  children  to  have  "Jack"  (as 
they  familiarly  called  him)  with  them,  and  so  his  in- 
clinations were  gratified.  He  had  his  own  peculiar 
tastes  in  these,  but  he  never  allowed  them  to  inter- 
fere with  the  happiness  of  others ;  and  he  was  ever 
ready  to  leave  his  favorite  amusement  with  mimic 
soldiers  and  the  perusal  of  stories  of  military  achieve- 
ments, in  response  to  the  other  children  when  they 
called,  "  Tell  us  this,"  or,  "  Show  us  that,"  or,  "  Come 
join  US  in  our  play."  Often,  when  he  had  gratified 
them  and  put  them  earnestly  in  motion  in  some  play, 
he  would  steal  ofi^  to  indulge  in  his  favorite  amuse- 
ments. 

An  excellent  feminine  teacher  had  charge  of  the 
boy's  earliest  education  outside  of  the  family;  and 
so  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  profit  by  instruction 
in  the  Sabbath  school,  he  filled  a  place  therein.  In 
such  a  way,  at  home  and  abroad,  his  earlier  intellec- 


10 

tual,  moral,  and  religious  training  was  begun.  And 
these  influences  and  Avise  discipline  went  hand  in 
hand  in  the  culture  of  the  ^^outh  all  the  way  up  to 
manhood,  when  the  religious  principle — the  best  ele- 
ment in  character  for  the  security  of  a  well-ordered 
and  useful  life,  pervaded  his  whole  being.  He  be- 
lieved with  Young,  that 

"A  Cliristian  is  the  highest  style  of  man  ;" 

not  the  Christian  by  profession  only,  but  by  hourly 
action.  And  the  tenor  of  his  life  was  in  consonance 
with  that  belief.  His  teacher,  J.  C  Farr,  wrote  to 
a  friend  in  allusion  to  the  child's  early  promise,  "  It 
was  my  privilege  in  the  confidence  reposed  in  me 
by  his  respected  parents,  to  have  John  placed  under 
my  instructions  in  the  Sabbath  school  while  in  his 
early  childhood,  and  among  all  the  large  numbers 
with  whom  I  have  been  associated  in  a  course  of 
many  years,  there  was  no  youth  with  whom  I  parted 
at  the  end  of  our  school  connection,  who  left  me  with 
so  hopeful  an  impression,  that,  as  he  had  been  always 
kind,  amiable,  respectful,  intelligent,  manly,  yet 
modest,  with  a  high  appreciation  of  moral  and  reli- 
gious truth,  nothing  else  would  be  realized  in  his 
manhood  than  the  results  which  these  coveted  traits 
of  character  ordinarily  produce.  We  considered  him 
in  Sabbath  school  an  exemplary  scholar,  and  in  his 
riper  years  were  not  disappointed." 

An  incident  occurred  during  his  connection  with 
the  Sabbath  school,  which  revealed  a  iDcculiar  phase 
in  young  Greble's  character.     He  was  usually  very 


11 

generous,  and  freely  spent  his  pocket  money  more 
for  the  gratification  of  others  than  for  himself.  At 
one  time  it  was  observed  that  his  generous  acts  had 
almost  ceased,  and  that  he  was  hoarding  instead  of 
spending  his  money.  The  other  children  noticed  it, 
and  said  :  "  Why,  Jack  is  getting  stingy."  He  was 
unmoved.  He  kept  his  own  counsel.  He  was  a 
manager  of  the  Sabbath  School  Bible  Society,  for 
which  cause  he  zealously  made  collections.  "What 
he  asked  of  others  he  would  not  himself  den}^  Very 
soon  the  secret  of  his  sudden  economy  in  expendi- 
ture was  revealed,  for  he  gave  to  the  society's  funds, 
at  the  anniversary  meeting,  so  large  a  sum  from  his 
own  savings,  that  it  was  voted,  by  unanimous  con- 
sent, that  the  father  of  the  generous  worker  should 
be  made  a  life  member.  Could  a  father's  heart  have 
coveted  a  more  touching  testimonial  of  the  nobility 
of  a  son's  nature  ? 

At  the  age  of  eight  years,  the  child  entered  the 
Ringgold  Grammar  School,  of  Philadelphia,  as  a 
pupil,  where  he  remained  four  years.  His  obedience, 
industry,  marked  ability,  and  gentleness  made  him 
a  universal  favorite ;  and  his  assiduity  was  rewarded 
at  the  end  of  the  term  with  full  success  in  23assing  a 
most  rigid  examination  as  a  candidate  for  a  higher 
seminary  of  learning.  His  attainments  were  such 
that  he  was  at  once  admitted  to  the  Central  High 
School  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  another 
term  of  four  years,  winning  the  love  and  esteem  of 
all,  both  tutors  and  students;  and  when  he  graduated 
in  June,  1850,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he  received 


12 

the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.     In  1854  he  received 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

During  his  whole  term  in  the  Central  High  School 
he  was  never  known  to  have  an  imperfect  lesson,  to 
violate  a  single  prescribed  rule,  or  to  neglect  studies 
which  were  not  in  accordance  with  his  taste.  Alle- 
giance to  duty  and  submission  to  authority  were 
the  practical  maxims  of  conduct  that  governed  him 
in  the  days  of  his  discipline;  and  a  sense  of  the  value 
of  time  as  a  limited  opportunity  for  improvement, 
seemed  ever  present  with  him. 

During  his  pupilage  in  the  Central  High  School, 
.young  Greble's  stated  and  occasional  compositions 
were  noted  for  clearness  and  vigor  of  thought,  and 
high-toned  notions  of  life's  duties  and  privileges. 
They  appear  quite  remarkable  when  considered  as 
the  productions  of  a  lad  a  little  more  than  fifteen 
years  of  age.  His  choice  of  subjects,  the  trains  of 
thought  developed,  and  the  clearness  and  directness 
of  his  statements,  without  any  of  the  usual  ornate 
rhetoric  found  in  juvenile  compositions,  marked  them 
all  as  the  fruit  of  a  sound  and  well-balanced  mind, 
perfected  by  thorough  discipline.  In  proof  I  intro- 
duce some  extracts  from  two  of  them,  satisfied  that 
they  will  gratify  the  loving  friends  for  whom  this 
memoir  is  written,  and  would  not  displease  even  a 
critical  and  unsympathizing  public. 


13 


•PASSIOlSr    ANT>    JUDGMENT. 


"How  can  you  best  influence  the  opinions  of  men? 
by  an  address  to  their  passions  or  their  judgments? 

"All  men  have  passions,  but  very  few  have  judg- 
ment; or,  at  least,  if  all  do  have  it,  in  some  it  is  as 
but  the  faintest  glimmering  of  the  nearly  expiring 
lamj).  How,  then,  can  we  appeal  to  that  which  all 
men  have  not,  much  less  seek  to  guide  their  conduct 
by  a  phantasm  ?  Can  we  find  that  Avhich  Avas  never 
lost  ?     Can  we  create  that  which  never  existed  ? 

"The  passions  are  natural :  judgment  is  acquired; 
and  what  is  natural  is  alwa^  s  stronger  than  studied 
attainments.  Judgment  tends  to  subdue  the  pas- 
sions ;  but  they  still,  at  times,  struggle  in  the  breast, 
as  the  proud  war  horse  rears  under  the  guidance  of 
the  rein. 

"He  who  has  judgment  is  a  great  man.  He  has 
learned  that  first  important  thing,  to  govern  himself; 
and  he  who  can  govern  himself  can  govern  others. 

"An  appeal  to  the  judgment,  although  a  confined 
one,  is  the  noblest.  It  is  backed  by  sense,  and  is 
acted  upon  in  the  coolness  of  thought  and  the  wis- 
dom of  experience.  The  appeal  to  the  passions  is  a 
general  one,  and  their  action  is  quicker  and  less  last- 
ing. 

"What  is  more  ennobling  than  the  passion  of  love  ? 
And  who  has  not  felt  it  ?  It  is  the  parent  of  good 
feelings,  and  the  offspring  of  a  higher  world  than  this. 
To  what  cannot  man  or  woman  be  moved  by  it? 
Love  to  God  spreads  a  heavenly  light  over  the  whole 


14 

heart.  Love  to  man  makes  happiness  enlighten  the 
face,  and  pleasure  dance  in  the  eyes.  It  is  a  calm 
and  saint-like  passion,  and  its  proximity  to  judgment 
is  near. 

"  The  appeal  to  the  malevolent  passions  is  as  strong 
and  its  effects  more  turbulent.  It  is  that  which  has 
filled  our  prisons,  and  which  has  populated  otherwise 
beautiful  districts  with  a  mass  of  improvident  and 
unruly  men,  kindling  terrible  furies,  destroying  pro- 
perty, and  contemplating  and  even  efiecting  the 
sacrifice  of  life." 

On  the  subject  of  "  Olden"  Times,"  after  mention- 
ing the  fact  that  many  desire  a  return  of  "  the  good 
old  days,"  he  wrote : — 

"  They  who  make  those  wishes  look  only  on  one 
side  of  the  picture.  Their  minds  are  led  away  to  the 
high-colored  and  brilliant  accounts  of  chivalry,  high 
birth  and  beauty  portrayed  on  the  novel's  enchanting 
l^age.  They  seem  to  hear  the  trumpet's  martial  blast 
ushering  the  mail-clad  knights  into  the  lists,  sending 
one  of  them  to  die,  or  to  be  overthrown,  or  wounded 
in  the  field.  They  then  see  the  victorious  one  greeted 
by  the  sounds  of  music  and  applause,  and  crowned 
Avith  laurels  by  the  hand  of  beauty.  It  is  because  of 
these  things  that  the  wish  escapes  their  lips.  They 
think  they  would  emulate  Richard  CcEur  de  Leon, 
or  Tancred;  and  that  the  proudest  ladies  would 
smile  upon  them. 

"  But  look  at  the  oppression  which  reigned  in  those 
days.     See  the  common  people  bowing  the  knee — 


15 

servile  on  account  of  their  situation — and  depending 
on  the  good  humor  of  their  lord,  alone,  for  their  lives. 
"Would  you  have  such  a  state  of  affairs  as  this  re- 
vived? 

"  In  Avar  alone  did  their  high-born  nobles  excel. 
The  school-boy  now,  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  is  better 
learned  in  geography,  the  proper  rules  which  govern 
language,  and  in  general  knowledge,  than  four-fifths 
of  those  knights  whom  he  would  resemble.  What  is 
power  without  knowledge,  but  the  oppression  of 
ignorance  ?" 

As  young  Greble  approached  the  age  when  a  voca- 
tion for  life  is  usually  chosen.  What  shall  it  be?  was 
a  serious  question  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  his 
parents.  His  father  had  desired  to  train  him  in  his 
own  business,  that  he  might  become,  in  manhood,  a 
partner  in  its  labors  and  emoluments ;  but  he  could 
plainly  discover,  during  all  the  years  of  the  boy's 
pupilage  in  the  High  School,  that  his  tastes  and  in- 
clinations were  decidedly  for  the  military  profession. 
His  favorite  amusement,  as  a  little  child,  was  Avith 
the  movements  of  toy  soldiers  under  his  OAvn  hands ; 
and  his  favorite  reading  as  he  grew  into  a  thoughtful 
youth,  was  that  which  related  to  military  achieve- 
ments. It  Avas  evident  that  the  delicate  boy,  in  whom 
no  belligerence  was  ever  manifested — Avho  was  never 
knoAvn  to  quarrel  Avith  a  school -felloAV,  or  unduly 
manifest  self-assertion  in  any  Avay — always  jDacific, 
and  yielding  his  OAvn  Avill  and  pleasure  for  the  joy  of 
others,  AA'hen  it  did  not  imply  the  submission  of  a 


16 

principle;  the  delicate  boy,  of  whom  a  stranger,  mark- 
ing his  gentleness  of  character,  would  have  predicted 
a  taste  for  the  non-combative  pursuits  of  science, 
literature,  or  the  fine  arts,  was  already,  by  some 
peculiar  inclination  of  his  genius,  a  soldier  in  aspira- 
tion. And  so  strongly  was  that  inclination  developed 
with  his  years,  that  the  father  yielded  his  own  pre- 
ferences and  took  measures  to  have  his  son  instructed 
in  all  that  pertained  to  a  preparation  for  the  military 
profession. 

AVhen  the  Honorable  Lewis  C.  Levin,  the  repre- 
sentative in  Congress  of  Mr.  Greble's  district,  heard 
of  the  strong  desire  of  the  hitter's  son  to  lead  a  mili- 
tary life,  he  at  once,  and  without  solicitation  or  even 
a  hint  from  the  lad's  family,  genei'ously  tendered  him 
a  cadetship  then  in  his  gift,  in  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  "West  Point,  on  the  Hudson. 
Mr.  Levin  was  w^ell  acquainted  with  young  Greble's 
character  as  a  youth  of  more  than  ordinary  promise, 
and  believed  that  his  career  would  justify  his  wisdom 
in  making  the  selection.  The  nomination  was  made 
in  the  winter  of  1850,  and  on  the  5th  of  March,  that 
year,  the  Secretary  of  War,  George  W.  Crawford,  of 
Georgia,  Avrote  to  the  candidate  an  official  letter  in 
which  he  informed  him  that  he  had  been  "  appointed 
a  cadet  in  the  service  of  the  United  States"  by  the 
President,  Zachary  Taylor.  On  the  30th  of  June 
following — the  very  day  but  one  after  his  gradua- 
tion at  the  Central  High  School  in  Philadelphia, 
he  entered  the  Academy  at  AYest  Point,  bearing 
with    him     to    the    Professors    of    that    institution 


17 

the  following  voluntaiy  testimonial   concerning  his 
worth : — 

"Centuai,  High  School, 

PniLADELPniA,  June  11,  1850. 

"To  the  Professors  of  the  Alilitary  Academy  at  West  Point: — 

"Gentlemen:   Mr.  John  T.  Greble  having  been 

appointed  a  cadet  in  yonr  institution,  I  beg  leave 

to  commend  him    to  your   kind  consideration.     As 

he  has  been  for  four  3^ears  under  my  care,  I  may 

claim  to  know  him  well ;  and  I  recommend  him  as  a 

young  man  of  good  abilities  and  amiable  disposition; 

punctual  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  seldom  off  his 

post.    In  these  whole  four  years  he  has  lost,  I  believe, 

but  two  days — one  from  sickness  and  one  to  attend 

the  funeral   of  a   classmate.     He   leaves   the   High 

School  with  the  unqualified  confidence  and  respect  of 

every  professor  in  it. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  S.  HART,  Principal 

Youns:  Greble's  examination  at  West  Point  fol- 
lowed  in  due  time.  It  was  entirely  satisfactory,  and 
in  February,  1851,  he  received  a  certificate  from  the 
"War  Department,  dated  the  24th  of  that  month,  de- 
claring his  ability  and  regular  entry  as  a  cadet,  the 
appointment  to  "  take  effect  on  the  30th  day  of  June, 
1850."  In  the  neat  gray  uniform  of  the  institution, 
he  was  now  a  faithful,  zealous,  and  in  every  way  ex- 
emplary student  of  such  knowledge  as  the  profession 
he  had  chosen  required.  The  history  of  that  gray 
uniform  of  the  "West  Point  Cadets  is  interesting.    It 

3 


18 

Avns  given  to  the  writer  in  1862,  hj  the  hite  Major- 
General  AYinfield  Scott,  while  conversing  ^yith  him 
in  the  library  at  ^Vest  Point.  AYhile  stationed  at 
Butialo.  in  the  summer  of  1814,  General  Scott  wrote 
to  the  Quarter-Master  for  a  supph^  of  new  clothing 
for  the  regulars,  ^^ord  soon  came  back  that  blue 
cloth,  such  as  was  used  in  the  army,  could  not  be  ob- 
tained, owing  to  the  stringency  of  the  blockade,  and 
the  embaro-o,  and  the  lack  of  manufactures  in  the 
country,  but  that  there  was  a  sufficient  quantit}^  of 
gray  cloth  (now  known  as  "  Cadet's  Gray")  in  Phila- 
delphia. Scott  ordered  it  to  be  made  up  for  his 
soldiers,  and  in  these  new  gra}"  suits  they  marched 
down  the  j^iao-ara  River,  on  the  Canada  side,  in  the 
direction  of  Chippewa.  It  was  just  before  the  battle 
known  by  that  name,  which  occurred  early  in  July. 
General  Eiall,  the  British  commander,  looked  upon 
them  with  contempt  when  preparing  for  battle  on  the 
morning  of  the  5th,  for  the  Marquis  of  Tweeddale, 
who,  with  the  British  advance,  had  skirmished  with 
them  all  the  day.  before,  had  reported  that  they  Avere 
only  "Buflalo  Militia,"  and  accounted  for  the  fact 
that  thev  fouo'ht  well  and  drove  him  to  his  intrench- 
ments  north  of  the  Chippewa  River,  because  it  was 
the  anniversary  of  American  Independence  that 
stimulated  them.  Because  of  the  victory  won  at 
Chippewa  on  that  day,  chiefly  by  these  soldiers  in 
gray,  and  in  honor  of  Scott  and  his  troops,  that  style 
of  cloth  was  adopted  at  the  military  academy  at 
"West  Point  as  the  uniform  of  the  cadets.  It  has 
been  used  ever  since,  and  is  known  to  be  the  best 


19 

color  for  field  service,  as  the  wearer  is  not  conspicu- 
ous. The  writer  has  observed  the  cadets  at  a  little 
distance  in  the  orpav  of  the  evenino^  twilisrht  to  be 
almost  invisible  excepting  the  dark  stripe  down  the 
leg. 

When  young  Greble  entered  the  militaiy  academy 
he  was  loved  and  respected  as  few  young  men  are 
loved  and  respected.  He  possessed  the  solid  esteem 
of  all  who  were  ever  brought  within  the  influence  of 
his  goodness,  and  in  a  special  manner  his  school- 
fellows. It  was  not  an  evanescent  liking  for  '*  a 
clever  fellow,''  which  too  often  illustrates  the  truth 
of  the  savino^  "  Out  of  sio:ht  out  of  mind."  but  it  was 
a  real  affection  inspired  by  his  intrinsic  worth — an 
admiration  for  his  noble  qualities  of  mind  and  heart. 
One  of  his  school-fellows,  who  has  since  held  honor- 
able positions  in  public  life,  in  a  paper  entitled,  "  Tele 
Character  of  Johx  T.  Grzble,'*  written  when  the 
subject  and  the  author  were  mere  boys,  summed  up 
his  estimate  of  that  character  in  the  followino-  words, 
of  which  the  closing  ones,  considered  in  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  were  j)rophetic  : — 

**  He  has  very  strong  good  sense ;  sees  very  well 
into  the  actions  of  others,  and  will  never  do  a  dis- 
graceful action.  His  love  of  right  is  too  strong  to 
permit  it.  He  cherishes  his  ideas,  and  we  will  hear 
the  same  things  repeated  by  him  after  a  considerable 
length  of  time. 

••  He  is  generous  to  a  fault,  as  the  writer  of  this 
has  had  many  opportunities  for  proving.  He  is  ener- 
getic, and  an  excellent  confidant — ^never  betraying  a 


20 

secret,  and   always  taking  a  great  interest   in   the 
affairs  of  his  friends. 

"  His  fault  is  not  vanity  ;  I  have  never,  in  all  my 
intercourse  with  him,  seen  him  display  any.  He 
does  not  discourse  of  his  own  merits.  He  never  as- 
sumes any  superiority.  He  will  look  up  even  to 
those  who  are  inferior  to  him,  but  will  not  bear  to  be 
looked  down  upon. 

"  He  is  brave,  and  dares  to  do  all  that  may  become 
a  man.  He  is  inclined  to  religion,  but  Avhether 
through  the  influence  of  natural  disposition  or  early 
education,  I  cannot  tell.  He  cannot  bear  trifling 
upon  subjects  that  he  deems  worthy  of  his  veneration. 
He  is  dainty  in  his  senses,  and  abhors  anything  dis- 
gusting or  indecent ;  his  soul  recoils  from  it. 

"  In  short,  he  is  the  embryo  of  a  bold,  honorable, 
true  man ;  one  that  w^ill  be  a  glory  to  his  name,  and 
an  honor  to  his  country ;  and  one  that  will  always 
be  my  friend. 

"IGNATIUS  L.  DONNELLY." 

More  remarkable  than  this  w^as  the  following  poetic 
address  of  young  Donnelly  to  his  "  dear  friend,  John 
T.  Greble"  during  the  first  year  of  the  latter's  cadet- 
ship  at  West  Point,  and  dated  January  15th,  1851 : — 

"Look  forward  to  the  future,  for  thy  heritage  is  there, 
Where  our  country's  "uidened  banner  floats  alone  upon  the  air  ; 
Or  through  the  rush  of  battle  its  smoke-enveloped  form 
Gleams  like  a  white  sail  plunging  'mid  the  tossing  of  the  storm. 

"Look  forward  to  the  future,  for  our  nation's  dawn  is  nigh, 
And  her  struggling  light  is  glancing  Avherc  the  golden  deserts  lie. 


21 

The  sun  that  peeped  above  tlic  sea  on  Plymouth's  wintry  shore, 

Now  flashes  where  the  billows  of  the  wide  Pacific  roar ; 

And  up  along  the  icy  north,  his  slanted  beams  lie  white 

O'er  pallid  lake,  and  windy  plain,  and  frozen  forest  height ; 

And  down  amid  the  dim  green  woods  of  shadowy  Brazil, 

Ilis  golden  light  shall  dazzle  where  all  is  dark  and  still. 
********* 

"Look  forward  to  the  future,  when  worth  shall  find  its  own. 
And  when  the  mightiest  mind  shall  wield  the  monarch-might  alone, 
When  nobler  deeds  and  greater  thoughts  shall  mark  our  nation-home. 
Than  ever  blessed  the  Spartan's  hills  or  shook  the  halls  of  Rome. 
Then  thou  shalt  shine,  my  early  friend  ;  thy  dimly-rising  star 
Shall  kiss  the  sunken  waves  of  peace  or  light  the  waste  of  war ; 
And  one  shall  stand  aside  and  watch  its  steadj^  changeless  ray, 
Until  its  light  fades  faintly  out  in  fame's  eternal  day." 

In  the  Military  Academy  our  Cadet  found  ample 
scope  and  means  for  the  gratification  of  his  tastes 
and  laudably  ambitious  desires.  His  studies,  his 
associates  and  associations,  and  the  daily  routine  of 
student-life  there,  were  all  calculated  to  produce  the 
most  perfect  development  of  his  whole  being-.  And 
in  him  that  development  was  most  harmonious  and 
beautiful,  l^o  study  was  irksome  to  him.  He  en- 
joyed severe  mental  and  moral  discipline ;  and  he 
yielded  as  lovingly  to  the  restraints  of  academic 
laws  as  he  had  ever  done  to  the  training  of  parental 
authority.  He  always  recognized  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  student,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Experience,  and 
that  his  highest  interest  was  involved  in  being  a  con- 
fiding and  attentive  listener.  He  was  always  obedi- 
ent to  the  requirements  of  the  most  minute  details  of 
the  service,  and  was  ever  loyal  to  the  authority  of 
duty.  This  was  a  characteristic  phase  of  his  Avhole 
cadet-life,  as  it  had  been  when  a  little  child  at  home, 


22 

and  a  boy  in  school.  And  when  he  was  placed  in 
j)osition  of  command,  with  which  military  students 
are  sometimes  invested,  he  was  always  most  conside- 
rate in  his  requirements  of  service  from  others,  and 
lenient  and  merciful  when  compelled  to  administer 
discipline  on  account  of  offences.  On  one  occasion, 
wdien  he  was  Corporal  of  the  Guard,  the  cadets  had 
what  they  called  a  "Stag  Dance" — a  dance  without 
any  ladies.  In  the  exuberance  of  their  spirits  they 
became  very  boisterous,  in  violation  of  the  rules  of 
the  Academy.  The  commandant  ordered  the  noise 
to  be  stopped,  and  the  leaders  put  under  arrest  in  the 
guard-house.  Mr.  Greble  immediately  ordered  out 
the  guard  to  arrest  them,  but  privately  sent  them  a 
w^arning  to  desist.  The  revellers  heeded  it,  quietly 
and  quickly  dispersed,  and  there  were  no  arrests  that 
day. 

"While  engaged  in  his  studies — studies  which  had 
fully  occupied  the  greatest  intellects  of  whose  achiev- 
ments  history  has  made  record — his  heart  was  con- 
stantly overflowing  w^ith  gratitude  and  affection 
toward  his  parents.  His  spiritual  nature  w\as  all  the 
wdiile  in  full  play,  and  his  soul  was  in  continual 
correspondence  with  his  home  through  that  mysteri- 
ous telegraph  which 

"Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  cxteut, 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent ;" 

and    which    human    wisdom    cannot    comprehend. 

Gratefully  he  wrote  to  his  mother  on  one  occasion — 

"And  now  my  thoughts  carry  me  to  my  ha|)py 


23 

home  in  Philadelphia;  to  the  kind  influences  which 
suiToiinded  me  there ;  to  the  loving-  hearts  which  so 
dearly  cherished  me.  How  kind  both  father  and 
mother  in  fostering  and  providing  for  my  ambition  ; 
inciting  me  to  study ;  supplying  every  want ;  and  if 
ever  I  thought — or  rather,  for  every  unkind  thought, 
if  I  ever  entertained  such,  and  for  every  wrong  word 
that  I  have  spoken,  I  am  deeply  penitential  and  most 
humbly  beg  pardon.  For  whatever  is  polite  or  re- 
fined in  my  composition,  I  am  indebted  to  you  and 
my  much-loved  sisters ;  whatever  is  affectionate  is 
but  what  has  been  taught  me  by  the  love  of  all  at 
home,  and  of  my  uncles  and  aunts." 

His  letters  of  affection  were  like  brimful  streams 
in  the  sj^ring  of  the  year,  Avhose  channels  are  scarcely 
suiScient  to  allow  the  free  floAV  of  the  gushing  tide. 

Mr.  Greble's  cadet-life  of  four  years  passed  gently 
and  nobly ;  and  he  was  graduated  with  marked  credit 
in  June,  1854.*     Many  of  his  class-mates  and  fellow 

*  At  the  time  of  his  graduation  the  new  fledged  sohlicr  received  from 

Ferdinand  J.  Dreer,  Esq.,  one  of  tlie  most  intimate  of  his  father's  friends, 

a  present  of  a  pair  of  elegant  epaulettes.     He  acknowledged  the  gift  in  the 

following  manner : — 

"Philadelphia,  June  20th,  1854. 
"Dear  Mr.  Dreer  : 

"I  received  yesterday  with  much  pleasure  the  handsome  pair  of  epau- 
lettes which  you  sent  me.  You  could  not  have  thought  of  a  gift  which 
would  have  pleased  me  more  or  which  I  was  desiring  more.  That  they  will 
highly  ornament  me  during  the  pleasant  and  showy  parts  of  my  duties  I  do 
not  doubt,  and  I  hope  that  if  I  am  ever  called  upon  to  act  the  sterner  parts 
of  a  soldier's  life,  I  may  do  nothing  to  disgrace  them  or  cause  their  donor 
to  regret  his  gift. 

"  Please  present  my  best  love  to  Mrs.  Dreer. 

JOHN  T.  GREBLE." 


24 

o-raduates  became  distinsrnished  officers  in  tlie  late 
civil  war;  and  tliose  wlio,  like  him,  remained  loyal 
to  the  old  flag,  like  him  attested  their  devotion  to 
the  principles  symbolized  in  the  device  and  expressed 
in  the  legend  engraved  upon  the  class-ring,*  Avhich 
they  had  adopted  when  about  to  leave  the  academy 
and  separate,  namely,  a  mailed  hand  holding  a  SAVord 
and  the  words,  ""When  our  country  calls."  So  the 
legend  abruptly  ended;  and  it  Avas  a  common  plea- 
santry used  among  their  friends,  that  the  words  might 
imply  with  equal  force  that  w^hen  their  country  called 
they  would  either  sustain  it  or  desert  it.  Members 
of  the  class,  in  the  time  of  hot  trial  a  few  years  later, 
made  the  pleasantry  a  solemn  reality,  for  some  stood 
by  their  country  while  others  deserted  its  standard.f 
At  his  graduation,  Mr.  Greble  received  the  com- 
mission of  brevet  second  lieutenant,  and  entered  the 

*  It  is  a  custom  at  the  militaiy  academy  at  West  Point  for  each  class, 
just  before  separating  at  the  close  of  their  studies,  to  adopt  a  device  and 
legend  or  motto,  ■n'hicli  each  has  engraved  on  stone  and  mounted  iu  a  gold 
ring  like  a  seal.  By  this  class-ring  they  might  always  recognize  each  other. 
No  class  copied  the  device  of  another — each  had  an  original  device  and 
legend. 

f  There  were  foity-six  graduates  of  his  class  of  one  hundred,  of  whom 
Uoenty-three  remained  true  to  the  Union  a\\(\  fourteen  ]ome(\  the  insurgents 
when  the  war  broke  out.  At  that  time  it  was  known  that  seven  of  the 
graduates  were  dead.  Ten  of  the  fourteen  disloyal  ones  became  generals 
in  the  "Confederate"  army,  namely,  G.  W.  C.  Lee,  James  Deshler,  John 
P.  Pegram,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  Archibald  Grade,  S.  D.  Lee,  W.  D.  Pender, 
J.  B.  Villepique,  J.  T.  Mercer,  and  A.  B.  Chapman.  Only  four  of  the 
loyal  graduates  were  raised  to  the  rank  of  general,  namelj^  Henry  L.  Ab- 
bot, Thomas  E.  Euger,  O.  O.  Howard,  and  S.  H.  Weed.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  when  the  civil  war  ended,  it  was  known  that  of  the  forty-six 
graduates  twelve  had  been  killed  iu  battle,  and  eight  had  died. 


25 

army  as  such  as  a  member  of  the  second  regiment  of 
artillery.  He  was  at  first  sent  to  the  barracks  at 
J^ewport,  Kentucky,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River, 
opposite  Cincinnati.  There  he  soon  received  the 
very  welcome  order  to  join  his  regiment  then  sta- 
tioned at  Tampa,  in  Floi'ida.  At  that  time  the  rem- 
nant of  the  Seminole  Indians,  whose  principal  chief 
was  called,  in  English,  Billy  Bowlegs,  and  with  whom 
the  General  Government  had  wao-ed  a  war  for  seven 
years,  ending  in  1849,  were  not  yet  removed  to  their 
destined  country,  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It 
seemed  necessary  to  have  an  armed  force  there  to 
watch  the  Indians,  and  to  keep  the  smothered  fires  of 
revenge  and  just  resentment  from  breaking  out  into 
a  flame  of  war. 

After  a  brief  visit  at  his  home  in  Philadelphia, 
Lieutenant  Greble  sailed  from  that  city  late  in  No- 
vember, for  the  purpose  of  joining  his  regiment  in 
Fort  Brooke,  at  Tampa,  then  the  chief  military  post  in 
AYest  Florida.  In  his  little  private  diary,  kept  with 
almost  chronological  brevity,  rather  as  a  series  of 
hints  to  the  memory  than  a  record  of  events,  he  wrote 
under  date  of  "  Saturday,  November  25th,  1854 :" — 

"Woke  up  and  found  ship  at  anchor  in  the  Savan- 
nah River,  waiting  for  tide  to  go  up  to  the  city. 
Sailed  up  the  river  and  got  aground ;  Florida  passen- 
gers taken  ofi"  by  the  "Welaka.  Bid  ladies  good-bye. 
Steamed  it  along  the  Florida  coast.  Stopped  at  tAvo 
or  three  towns  with  the  mail." 

On  Sunday,  the  2Gth,  he  wrote : — 

"AVoke    up   and   found   the   boat  at  St.   Mary's. 

4 


26 

Dressed,  mid  ^te]iped  a>bore  to  <ay  tliat  T'vo  ]k\'U  in 
Geoi'o-ia.  AV^'iit  out  to  sea  to  St.  John's  har:  plenty 
of  pelicans,  pruttv  towns,  live  oak.  jiabnetto.  and 
cypress  trees  seeming  to  grow  out  of  the  water.  Got 
into  Pilatka  early  in  the  evening.** 

Lieutenant  GrdUe's  experience  on  the  way  from 
Pihitka  to  Tampa,  and  on  his  arrival  there,  is  given 
in  the  following  letter  to  his  uncle,  which  presents  a 
graphic  and  mo-t  interesting  picture  of  the  interior 
of  Florida  at  that  time : — 

"Tampa.  December  1st.  Is"i4, 

"Deae  Uxcle  : — 

'*I  owe  YOU  a  letter,  were  it  only  in  consideration 
of  the  (quantity  of  writing  materials  with  which  you 
have  provided  me.  You  have  l)een  very  kind  to  me. 
You  have  bestowed  upon  me  your  gifts,  and  your 
luve — the  richest  gift — with  a  lavi>h  hand. 

'•I  have  added  consideraldy  to  my  experience 
since  I  last  saw  you.  as  you  will  see  by  my  letter  to 
mamma. 

•■  The  first  day  of  December  in  this  climate  is  fjuite 
pleasant.  Yesterday,  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  it  was 
very  warm.  The  mornings  and  evenings  are  cold. 
They  liuild  a  tire  in  the  morning,  and.  after  a  little 
while,  throw  open  the  doors  and  let  it  die  away. 

•'I  must  tell  } ctu  aliout  my  stage-ride.  AVe  left 
Pilatka  alu^ut  nine  o'clock  on  Monday  morning. 
Four  in  the  stage  ( tive.  counting  the  driver):  two 
gentlemen  wdio  owned  land  near  the  town  of  Ocala, 
Major  Hayes  and  myself. 


27 

^'The  ground  over  which  we  passed,  and,  I  think, 
all  of  Southern  Florida,  is  not  soil,  but  sand,  except 
Avhere  we  passed  through  a  puddle  of  water.  The 
stage  was  a  four-horse  coach,  and  a  ver}^  'slow 
coach.'  Xo  wonder,  for  the  baggage  was  heavy  and 
the  road  not  over  good.  We  rode  about  twentj-five 
miles  through  a  pine-wood ;  and,  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  came  to  Orange  Springs,  where  there 
is  the  largest  and  best  house  I  have  seen  in  Florida. 
After  a  delay  of  about  an  hour,  we  drove  ahead  six- 
teen miles,  and  came  to  a  place  owned  by  a  man 
named  Templeton.  He  is  a  post-master.  The  room 
into  which  we  first  went  had  nothing  in  it  but  a  fire 
of  pine  wood — 'light  wood'  they  call  it.  He  used 
it  as  the  post-ofiice. 

'•  I  was  very  much  amused  at  a  conversation  l)e- 
tween  him  and  one  of  our  passengers.  This  Temple- 
ton  did  not  seem  to  have  much  of  an  opinion  of 
Florida.  He  said  there  was  nothing  to  eat  but  veni- 
son, and  he  would  as  soon  eat  a  turkey-buzzard ;  that 
he  could  not  raise  more  than  a  peck  of  corn  to  the 
acre ;  and  that  if  any  one  would  give  him  what  the 
place  had  cost  him,  he  would  sell  it  soon  enough. 
The  other  man  had  land  to  sell,  and  praised  Florida 
up  to  the  skies.  The  supper  we  got  certainly  did  not 
belie  the  post-master's  statement.  Though  we  had 
venison  and  sweet  potatoes,  they  were  not  cooked 
properly. 

''After  supper  we  rode  about  fourteen  miles  farther, 
and  came  to  a  small  town  called  Ocala,  where  we 
changed  stages,  and  Major   Hayes  and  myself  got 


28 

into  a  two-horse  hack.  About  nine  o'clock  the  next 
morning  we  came  to  a  house  called  '  The  "Widow's,' 
and  owned  by  a  Mrs.  Bates.  "We  rode  on  thirty 
miles  ferther  without  stopping  for  dinner,  and  at 
twelve  o'clock  at  night  got  to  Mr.  Hooper's.  Here 
we  staid  all  night,  and  started  next  morning  at  nine ; 
and,  after  stopping  at  a  Mrs.  Gage's  for  dinner,  we 
arrived  in  Tampa  at  nine  o'clock  Wednesday  evening. 

"  Most  all  the  road  passes  through  a  pine  wood. 
Occasionally  it  passes  through  a  hemlock  wood,  which 
is  thick  and  sometimes  almost  impassable,  where 
there  are  live-oaks,  scrub-oaks,  palmettos,  and  ba}- 
trees.  The  foliage  was  all  green;  and  in  some  of 
these  hommocks  I  noticed  trees  with  beautifully 
polished  leaves  of  a  bright  green  color — trees  and 
bushes.  The3^  have,  also,  what  are  called  prairies — 
not  like  the  large  prairies  of  the  west,  but.  perhaps  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  square,  and  covered  with  a  long, 
yellow  grass.  They  are  usually  around  a  jiond  of 
water,  and  in  the  wet  season  most  of  them  are  under 
Avater. 

"The  live-oak  is  not  a  very  large  tree — or  those  I 
have  seen  are  not — and  it  has  a  small  green  leaf. 
The  bay-tree  bears  a  long  green  leaf.  There  are  two 
kinds  :  one  with  a  leaf  very  like  the  oleander,  and  one 
with  a  broad,  long  leaf.  There  are  three  kinds  of 
palmettos :  the  cabbage,  the  blue,  and  the  saw  pal- 
metto. The  cabbage  palmetto  grows  into  a  tree. 
The  trunk  is  pretty  thick,  and  grows  about  sixteen 
to  twenty  feet  high,  and  has  a  bunch  of  leaves  at  the 
top.    The  saw  palmetto  bears  a  leaf  which  looks  very 


29 

like  and  is  about  the  size  of  a  palm-leaf  fan,  only  the 
leaves  are  not  connected  all  the  way  up.  When  I 
say  '  leaves,'  do  not  suppose  that  I  mean  it  is  a  tree ; 
it  is  merely  a  stem  with  this  fan-like  leaf,  or  rather 
bunch  of  leaves  connected  part  of  the  way.  The 
blue  palmetto  is  the  saw  palmetto  on  a  large  scale. 
Its  stem  is  laro-e  enouo-h  for  a  walkino'-cane,  and  the 
leaf  is  in  proportion.  It  grows  in  the  hommocks  and 
rich  grounds. 

"  The  people  who  have  made  settlements  along  the 
stage-route  are  generally  from  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  They  are  termed  '  Crackers  ;'  I  think  that 
is  the  way  to  spell  it.  All  out  of  the  rank  of  gentle- 
men are  called  '  Crackers.'  They  are  a  poor,  thrift- 
less set,  living  in  log-houses  which  are  pretty  well 
ventilated.  Each  one  owns,  perhaps,  two  or  three 
negroes,  and  two  or  three  hundred  acres  of  pine  land 
which  they  (or  most  of  them)  do  not  take  the  trouble 
to  clear,  but  merely  fence  in.  They  raise  cotton, 
sweet  potatoes,  and  turpentine.  I  saw  several  cotton 
fields  in  which  the  negroes  were  picking,  though 
most  of  the  cotton  crops  had  been  gathered.  I  also 
saw  several  small  patches  of  sugar  cane,  looking  very 
much  like  fields  of  tall  corn. 

"  The  houses  were  mostly  log-huts,  built  by  laying 
ends  of  logs  on  ends  of  logs  perpendicular  to  them. 
Sometimes  they  fill  in  the  cavities  by  nailing  strips 
of  thin  boards  between  every  two  courses  of  logs ; 
most  of  them,  however,  do  not  take  that  trouble. 

"Within  these  houses  they  keej)  themselves  warm 
by  building  large  '  light-wood'  fires.     In  one  place 


30 

where  we  stopped  I  counted  six  logs  in  the  fire-place, 
all  blazing  away,  each  log  about  six  feet  long  and 
seven  or  eight  inches  in  diameter.  At  another  place 
I  noticed  a  nice  new,  tight  and  comfortable  building, 
and,  thinks  I,  these  people  must  be  more  comfortable 
than  those  I  have  seen;  but  the  woman,  who  was 
talking  to  the  stage-driver,  suddenly  turned  round 
to  a  little  girl  by  her  side,  and  exclaimed : — 

" '  That  nasty  little  dog  has  got  into  the  smoke- 
house— run  and  put  him  out !'  It  was  the  smoke- 
house that  was  so  tight ;  the  dwelling  was  all  open. 

"Each  settlement  has  usually  several  log-houses 
— one  for  the  '  mansion,'  one  for  the  kitchen,  and  one 
or  more  for  the  negroes. 

"  Every  time  we  stopped  to  take  a  meal  we  had 
venison.  Quite  a  good  number  of  deer  crossed  the 
road  during  our  journey.  I  saAV  a  good  many  wild- 
turkeys,  and  got  out  of  the  stage  to  try  and  shoot  one 
with  my  pistol,  but  they  were  too  quick  for  me. 
There  was  any  quantity  of  partridges,  and  ducks 
were  on  every  little  pond.  Passing  Lake  Ahapopka 
— a  lake  partly  prairie  and  partly  water — whose  bor- 
ders we  followed  for  about  eight  miles,  I  saw  a  great 
number  of  long-legged  white  cranes  wading  through 
the  water. 

"We  passed  on  the  road  a  planter  moving  his  hands 
and  stock.  There  were  two  or  three  Avagons  carrying 
their  goods,  and  one  filled  with  a  dozen  or  more  negro 
children.  Twenty  or  thirt}^  negro  Avomen  and  men 
were  walking,  and  then  there  was  a  drove  of  hogs,  a 


31 

negro  man  in  front  dropping  a  grain  of  corn  every 
few  steps,  and  the  bogs  following. 

"Tampa  is  a  pretty  place,  built  like  any  otber  vil- 
lage, with  tbe  bouses  for  apart,  and  on  roads  ratber 
tban  streets.  Tbe  roads  run  every  way,  and  I  bave 
two  or  tbree  times  bad  difficulty  in  finding  ray  board- 
ing bouse. 

"Tbe  first  nigbt  we  came  bere.  Major  Hayes  and  I 
went  down  to  tbe  garrison,  and,  on  our  return,  missed 
our  way.  We  went  into  a  place  tbat  bad  a  ligbt  in 
it,  and  tbere  saw  a  long  table  witb  a  miscellaneous 
crowd — soldiers,  negroes,  &c. — seated  around  it  play- 
ing A'e^o,  I  tbink  tbey  called  it.  A  man  at  tbe  bead 
of  tbe  table  turned  round  a  calabash  filled  with  num- 
bered blocks,  and  at  each  revolution  drawing  out  one 
of  these  blocks  and  calling  out  tbe  number.  Tbe 
players  were  furnished  witb  cards  bearing  different 
combinations  of  numbers,  and  as  any  block  was  called 
tbat  was  on  their  card,  tbey  would  mark  it  with  a 
grain  of  corn,  and  tbe  one  who  first  bad  a  square 
Avith  one  in  tbe  middle  filled  thus  :  • :  Avould  call  out 
'  heno,''  and  take  the  money  staked — each  player,  per- 
haps, having  put  up  a  ten  cent  piece.  The  banker 
paid  himself  by  a  percentage  on  tbe  amount  staked 
on  each  game. 

"  Tbe  garrison  ground  stands  right  at  tbe  junction 
of  tbe  Hillsborough  Kiver  witb  Tampa  Bay,  and  is 
the  prettiest  place  in  TamjDa.  The  officers  first  in 
command  shoAved  great  taste  in  sparing  tbe  liA'e-oaks; 
and  tbere  tbey  stand  looking  venerable  from  under 
their  gray  moss  coA^ering. 


32 

"They  are  breaking  up  Tampa  as  a  mil itar}-  sta- 
tion. The  head-quarters  are  to  be  at  Fort  Myers,  the 
place  to  which  I  am  going.  I  do  not  know  how  long 
I  am  to  stay  there.  The  schooner  which  runs  to  Fort 
Myers  has  not  come  back  yet. 

"  The  oranges  w  hich  you  gave  me  were  very  ac- 
ceptable to  the  ladies  and  to  myself. 

"  My  l^est  love  to  grandmother,  to  Aunt  Mary,  and 

Aunt  L . 

"  Your  affectionate  nephew, 

"JOHN  T.  GREBLE." 

On  the  day  before  the  above  letter  w^as  written, 
Lieutenant  Greble  appeared  in  full  uniform  before 
Colonel  Monroe,  the  commander  of  the  post,  to  an- 
nounce his  arrival  in  Tampa.  He  was  ordered  to 
join  his  company  at  Fort  Myers.  The  passenger 
schooner  wdiich  Avas  to  convey  him  thither  did  not 
arrive  at  Tampa  until  almost  a  fortnight  afterward, 
when,  as  he  was  preparing  to  go  on  board,  he  was 
ordered  into  the  Cypress  Swamp,  out  from  Tampa, 
to  superintend  a  number  of  men  engaged  in  making 
canoes.  It  was  a  light  but  exceedingly  uncomfort- 
able service. 

Lieutenant  Greble  left  Tampa  for  the  Cypress 
Swamp  on  the  15th  of  December.  He  travelled  in 
a  wagon  with  baggage  and  implements.  His  driver 
lost  his  way,  and  made  a  bold  and  perilous  push 
directly  across  the  country  in  the  direction  of  the 
canoe-builders.  The  wagon  w^as  disabled  in  a  hom- 
mock,  and  they  w^ere  compelled  to  camp  out  for  the 


33 

night,  almost  without  shelter  or  food.  In  the  morn- 
ing Lieutenant  Greble  pressed  forward  on  foot, 
guided  by  the  sound  of  axes  which  had  fallen  faintly 
on  his  ear  before  starting.  It  was  a  wearisome  and 
dangerous  journey.  He  was  often  compelled  to  wade 
through  water  above  his  knees — the  cold,  chilling 
water  of  winter — and  once  he  Avas  almost  submerged 
in  a  hole.  In  such  plight,  wet  and  w^eary,  but  brave 
and  cheerful,  he  reached  the  camp  of  the  wood-chop- 
pers, and  forgot  the  hardships  of  the  day  while  en- 
joying, in  the  evening,  a  bright  fire  after  a  warm 
supper,  and  an  unexpected  visit  from  his  captain. 
It  had  been  an  uncomfortable  introduction  to  a  dis- 
agreeable service. 

And  so  it  was,  that  day  after  day,  in  the  cold,  wet 
swamp,  the  young  soldier  of  delicate  frame  dis- 
charged his  prescribed  duties  with  fidelity  and  cheer- 
fulness. And  there  it  was  that  he  enjoyed  his  first 
Christmas  dinner  while  in  the  military  service.  "To- 
day," he  wrote  to  his  mother  on  the  sacred  anniver- 
sary, "I  caught  a  trout,  and  the  sergeant  sent  me  a 
piece  of  Avild  turkey ;  so,  with  my  turkc}^  and  trout, 
I  made  a  very  good  Christmas  dinner." 

In  January,  1855,  Lieutenant  Greble  received 
orders  to  go  to  another  part  of  the  swamp,  the  tim- 
ber Avhere  he  was  then  engaged  having  become  ex- 
hausted. He,  and  those  under  his  command,  went 
down  the  river  in  the  completed  canoes.  It  was  a 
most  fatiguing  voyage.  Sometimes  they  were  com- 
pelled to  saw  apart  huge  obstructing  logs,  and  at 
other  times  to  get  out  of  their  boats  into  water  waist 


34 

deep,  and  push  or  scull  their  vessel  over  shoals.  At 
night  they  encamped  on  the  cold  and  sodden  shores, 
and  found  no  real  comfort  until  they  reached  Roble's 
Bridge,  a  few  miles  from  Tampa.  And  so  it  was 
that  our  young  soldier  was  introduced  to  the  actual 
military  service  of  his  country  in  its  least  attractive 
form. 

At  Roble's  Bridge  Lieutenant  Greble  received 
notice  that  the  commander  of  the  post  at  Tampa,  and 
other  officers  were  about  to  start  for  Fort  Myers; 
and  he  was  directed  to  come  immediately  to  Fort 
Brooke  and  take  charge  of  the  post.  He  set  out  at 
once,  and  reached  the  fort  just  after  the  steamboat 
had  left  with  the  departing  officers.  There  he  wel- 
comed official  responsibility  and  physical  comfort. 
To  the  latter  he  had  been  a  stranger  for  some  time. 
"To  eat  at  a  table,  and  to  eat  something  different 
from  ham  and  sweet  potatoes,  is  a  luxury,"  he  wrote. 
And  yet  he  preferred  the  privations  he  had  endured 
in  the  swamps,  to  the  life  of  comparative  inaction 
which  he  was  compelled  to  lead  in  Tampa ;  and  he 
longed  to  be  assigned  to  some  post  where  he  might 
find  more  active  employment.  "  I  am  determined  to 
endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier,"  he  wrote.  And 
under  date  of  January  19th  he  recorded  in  his  diary : 

*' To-day  is  my  birthday.  To-day  I  am  twenty- 
one  years  old.  A  free  man  in  the  eyes  of  the  law. 
Heigh-ho !  There  are  harder  times  before  me  than  I 
have  yet  passed  through ;  but  I  am  ever  ready  for 
them." 

On  the  return  of  Colonel  Monroe,  Lieutenant  Gre- 


35 

ble  was  relieved  of  his  command  of  Fort  Brooke,  and 
ordered  to  join  his  company  at  Fort  Myers,  which  he 
described  as  a  "rather  picturesque  looking  place, 
consisting  of  log,  frame  and  palmetto  houses,  most 
of  which  have  palmetto-thatched  roofs."  It  was  on 
the  banks  of  the  Caloosahatchee  River,  south  of 
Tam^ja,  and  named  in  honor  of  Captain  A.  C.  Myers, 
of  the  Quartermaster's  Department.  There  he  re- 
ported to  Colonel  Brown,  from  whom  he  received  in- 
stant orders  to  go  up  the  river  in  a  boat,  explore  its 
channels,  shoals  and  shores,  and  make  an  accurate 
map.  His  efSciency  in  this  service  was  fully  mani- 
fested in  his  first  report ;  and  he  was  kept  busy  in 
such  duty,  which  was  agreeable  to  him.  It  was 
rough,  fatiguing,  and  responsible;  but  he  accepted 
all  conditions  Avith  the  greatest  cheerfulness.  His 
experience  soon  dispelled  his  dream  of  the  paradisia- 
cal character  of  Florida;  but  he  did  not,  in  his  letters, 
draw  pictures  of  the  darker  side — of  noisome  mo- 
rasses, vast  networks  of  poisonous  vines,  of  loathsome 
reptiles,  venomous  serpents,  and  miasmatic  fogs  that 
penetrate  to  the  marrow.  He  was  too  brave  and 
generous  to  say  ought  in  disj^aragement  of  the  coun- 
try to  awaken  in  the  minds  of  his  friends  a  susjDicion 
that  he  was  not  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  life  there. 
He  was  too  candid  to  allow  them  to  be  wholly  igno- 
rant of  some  of  the  forbidding  aspects  of  the  region. 
"Tell  papa,"  he  wrote,  "that  I  have  noticed  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  country  through  which  I  have  passed. 
Go  a  little  way  and  you  see  pines.  Go  a  little  far- 
ther and  you  see  pines ;  and  a  little  farther,  and  you 


36 

see  i^ines.  Look  as  far  as  you  can,  and  you  see  jjines. 
It  is  a  glorious  country !"  A  little  later  he  wrote  : 
"I  hope  papa  is  not  serious  when  he  talks  of  coming 
to  see  me.  Much  as  I  would  like  to  see  him,  I  am 
afraid  that  he  would  think  a  visit  no  pleasure  excur- 
sion, by  the  time  he  reached  home  again." 

Added  to  other  discomforts  of  life  at  Fort  Myers 
was  a  continual  apprehension  of  an  attack  by  the 
Indians.  Their  personal  intercourse  with  the  garri- 
son was  friendly,  but  the  latter  thought  the}^  could 
discover  indications  that  the  red  men  only  w^aited  for 
a  good  opportunity  to  show  themselves  the  most 
implacable  foes.  This  feeling  caused  so  much  cau- 
tion and  watchfulness  that  excellent  discipline  was 
afforded  the  soldiers. 

Late  in  February  Lieutenant  Greble  was  ordered 
to  Fort  McRae,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Okee- 
cho-bee,  where  a  block-house  w^as  to  be  built.  He 
left  Fort  Myers  with  ten  men.  The  journey  by  land 
and  Avater  was  very  wearisome.  They  went  up  the 
Caloosahatchee  to  Fort  Thompson,  thence  across  the 
Avet  prairies  to  the  Fish-Eating  Creek,  and  then  doAvn 
that  stream  into  and  across  Lake  Okee-cho-bee,  a 
sheet  of  water  covering  about  twelve  hundred  square 
miles.  They  had  a  rough  and  perilous  voyage  across 
it,  and  found  inhospitable  camping  grounds  on  its 
margin,  for  dreary  swamps  pressed  close  upon  its 
borders.  They  reached  Fort  McRae  in  safety,  and 
w^ere  there  joined  by  another  party  detached  for  simi- 
lar duty.  The  block-house  Avas  soon  built,  and  the 
eastern  shores  of  the  lake  explored  and  mai3ped;  and 


37 

Lieutenant  Greble  and  his  party,  retnrning  by  the 
way  they  went,  reached  Fort  Myers  on  the  fifteenth 
of  March. 

During*  his  absence,  Lieutenant  Greble's  company 
had  started  on  an  expedition  to  the  JEverglades  of 
Florida.  He  prepared  to  join  them,  but  before  he 
could  get  ready,  serious  consequences  of  his  priva- 
tions and  exposures  in  the  swamps  appeared  in  the 
form  of  fever  and  ague.  His  strong  will  nearly  over- 
came the  disease,  and  on  the  twentieth  day  of  March, 
pale  and  weak,  he  left  Fort  Myers  for  the  woods  in 
company  with  some  other  ofiicers.  With  the  greatest 
fortitude  he  endured  the  hard  experiences  of  that 
journey — a  journey  in  which  they  were  not  allowed 
to  pick  their  way,  but  were  compelled  to  take  a  direct 
course  in  spite  of  every  obstacle.  Sometimes  they 
were  in  solitary  woods.  Then  they  were  in  wet 
prairies,  and  constantly  in  water.  Sometimes  they 
were  in  sickly  solitudes  in  tangled  and  malarious 
swamps,  staking  out  the  channels  of  muddy,  slimy 
ponds;  and  then  they  were  upon  barren  wastes, 
wading  more  than  knee  deej)  in  water  or  sinking  to 
their  ankles  in  soft  mud  at  every  step.  Again,  they 
would  be  panting  for  breath  in  some  arid  desert,  glad 
to  moisten  their  lips  in  drops  of  water  that  may  have 
oozed  out  into  the  tracks  of  alligators.  All  of  these 
fatigues  and  privations  Lieutenant  Greble  endured 
with  a  light  heart,  while  burdened  with  the  responsi- 
ble duties  of  commissary  and  quarter-master  of  the 
command. 

At  one  time  the  expedition  encamped  very  near  the 


38 

village  -wheiv  Billy  Bowlegs,  the  head  chief  oi'  the 
Seininoles.  lived.  He  often  visited  the  camps,  with 
two  or  three  followers,  aiul  wa<  ahvays  very  friendly. 
One  tlay.  after  dining  at  head([uarters.  he  procured 
an  almndance  o\'  liquor  in  some  way,  and,  using  it 
freely,  hecame  drunken  and  disorderly — so  misc-hiev- 
ous  that  Lieutenant  Greble,  who  was  othcer  oi'  the 
day,  was  compelled  to  turn  him  out  oi'  the  camp  bv 
force.  Billy,  when  sober,  did  not  resent  this  act  of 
seeming  inhospitality,  and  the  lieutenant  became  his 
fovorite  among  the  soldiers.  His  regard  was  mani- 
fested by  his  acts,  and  also  by  his  words,  when,  one 
day,  he  and  the  young  soldier  Avere  conversinii" 
together  alone  al^out  a  if  airs  in  Florida,  he  >aid  :  "If 
war  should  come  between  your  }>eople  and  mine.  I 
will  tell  all  my  young  men  not  to  kill  f/OK.  I  will  kill 
yoti  myself.     Yon  must  be  killed  l\v  a  chief." 

That  the  seven  years'  war  with  the  Seminoles,  in 
which  hundreds  of  precious  lives  and  millions  of 
treasure  were  wasted  for  the  benefit  of  Georgia  and 
Florida  planters  and  speculators  :  and  that  the  final 
expulsion  of  tlir  Seminoles — one  of  many  like  crimes 
committed  by  our  government  in  its  relations  with 
the  Indians — was  for  the  gratification  of  the  covetous 
desires  of  such  planters  and  speculators  of  that  day, 
no  one  who  has  carefully  pondered  the  history  of 
those  events  can  doul>t.  Lieutenant  Greble  fully 
comprehended  the  matter  when  he  wrote  to  his 
parents,  saying :  "  The  Indians  are  perfectly  peace- 
able, and  are  the  best  inhabitants  of  the  State,  accord- 
ing to  my  way  of  thinkino-.     J  will  not  conceal  from 


39 

yon,  however,  tlint  it  is  the  intention  of  the  govern- 
ment to  have  them  out  of  Florida.  A  group  of  poli- 
ticians have  represented  that  the  country  occupied 
by  the  Indians  is  the  most  fruitful  in  the  world — 
good  land  for  coffee  plantations,  spice-groves,  and  all 
that — and  the  Indians,  accordingly,  have  to  vacate, 
unless  they  change  their  minds  in  Washington  when 
they  learn  the  true  nature  of  the  country." 

So  it  Avas  when  the  splendid  country  of  the  Chero- 
kees,  in  Georgia,  became  the  object  of  the  Avhite 
man's  covet ousness  and  cupidity — when  fine  farms, 
and  schools,  and  churches  abounded  among  them, 
and  they  had  by  their  energy  developed  the  marvel- 
lous resources  of  their  countr}^  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  a  solid  structure  of  Indian  civilization,  that 
the  decree  went  out  from  Washington,  "The  Indians 
must  vacate !"  and  the  dusky  Christians  Avere  driven 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  white  man's  civilization. 

AVhen,  at  length.  Lieutenant  Greble  was  ordered 
back  to  Fort  Myers,  and  arrived  there,  his  delight  at 
exchanging  the  privations  of  camp-life  in  the  Ever- 
glades for  the  comforts  of  a  regular  post,  was  mani- 
fested in  a  joyous  letter  to  his  parents,  showing  that 
he  had  felt  these  privations  of  which  he  seldom 
gave  hints.  ''  How  prettily  the  post  looked  as  we 
came  in,"  he  said.  "  Everything  was  so  neat  and 
clean;  a  bunch  of  oleanders  in  full  bloom;  the  broad 
river;  the  steamboat  at  the  wharf;  the  neat  build- 
ings, all  looked  like  comfortable  civilization.  IIoav 
glad  I  was  to  get  in ;  and  how  I  envied  the  summer 
dresses  of  the  officers  !     What  a  treat  it  w  as  to  have 


40 

a  comfortable  bath  prepared,  and  linen  to  put  on  that 
had  been  ironed !" 

Relieved  from  excitement,  and  reposing  in  the 
quiet  of  garrison  life,  Lieutenant  Greble  was  soon 
fiercely  attacked  by  the  lurking  disease  which  will 
and  action  had  kept  at  bay.  He  was  prostrated  by 
it;  and  for  awhile  his  life  was  in  great  jeopardy. 
It  was  defended  by  a  naturally  strong  constitution, 
and  signs  of  convalescence  appeared.  So  soon  as 
he  was  able  to  endure  travel,  a  furlough  was  obtained 
for  him,  and  he  was  conveyed  to  Philadelphia.  There, 
under  the  tireless  care  of  the  dearly  loved  and  loving 
ones  of  his  home,  he  remained  three  months,  at  the 
end  of  Avhich  time  he  reported  himself  fit  for  duty. 
In  February,  1856,  he  sailed  for  Florida  at  the  head 
of  a  party  of  recruits,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Myers  just 
after  his  company  had  left  the  post  for  duty  in  the 
field.  He  was  anxious  to  join  them  in  active  service, 
but  the  recruits  were  needed  to  fill  the  ranks,  and  he 
was  ordered  to  remain  in  garrison  and  drill  them. 
"While  performing  that  service  he  felt  impelled  by 
the  requirements  of  duty  to  perform  the  solemn 
functions  of  a  Christian  minister.  One  of  his  soldiers 
died.  There  was  no  chaplain  at  the  post.  He  could 
not  bear  the  idea  of  seeing  his  comrade  buried  with- 
out religious  ceremonies,  so,  after  some  misgivings 
as  to  the  propriety  of  his  assuming  the  holy  ofiice, 
he  read  over  the  dead  body  of  the  soldier  the  impres- 
sive funeral  services  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  Anxious  to  be  right,  he  asked  the  opinion 
of  his  mother  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  course,  and 


41 

said,  "  I  thought  it  was  better  than  to  place  the  body 
in  the  ground  without  any  religious  exercises." 

"  It  was  better,"  his  mother  wrote,  "  much  better, 
my  dear  son,  and  far  more  impressive  to  his  com- 
rades than  it  would  have  been  had  they  walked  away 
from  his  grave  without  hearing  those  comforting 
words.  Besides,  these  men  will  regard  you  with  far 
more  respect  for  having  done  so,  than  if  you  had 
allowed  them  to  deposit  their  lost  comrade  in  the 
narrow  tomb  without  one  word."  She  cited  a  case 
in  point  which  had  lately  occurred  in  the  naval  expe- 
dition to  Japan,  under  Commodore  Perry;  and 
strongly  encouraged  him  to  do  likewise  should  an 
opportunity  again  offer. 

The  quiet  garrison  life  at  Fort  Myers  was  soon 
disturbed.  The  Seminoles  seemed  to  be  more  hos- 
tile, active  and  daring  than  they  had  yet  been ;  and 
orders  were  sent  for  Lieutenant  Greble  and  his  re- 
cruits to  join  his  company  in  the  field.  In  that 
service  was  engaged  his  fellow  academician,  Lieu- 
tenant Hartsuff,  who  was  an  eminent  general  officer  in 
the  late  Civil  War,  and  who,  when  Lieutenant  Gre- 
ble was  slain,  wrote  concerning  him  in  that  campaign 
in  the  Everglades :  "  Thereafter  he  could  always  be 
found  in  the  field,  constantly  and  actively  engaged 
in  the  sometimes  exciting,  but  oftener  tedious,  hard 
and  laborious  duty  of  pursuing  and  wearing  out  the 
crafty  and  almost  ubiquitous  Indians,  until  the 
autumn  of  1856,  when  his  company  was  ordered  out 
of  Florida.  This  kind  of  duty,  which  is  the  most 
difficult  and   aggravating,  offers   fewer  points,   and 


42 

tries  more  true  soldierly  qualities  thau  any  other. 
Lieutenant  Greble  developed  in  it  the  truest  and  best 
qualities  of  the  good  soldier  and  officer,  winning  the 
esteem  and  admiration  of  his  brother  officers  and  the 
perfect  confidence  of  the  soldiers.  He  filled  every 
position  and  performed  every  duty  with  great  credit 
to  himself,  and  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  his  supe- 
rior officers.  He  never  shrank  from  any  duty,  but 
always  met  it  more  than  half  way." 

Fully  alive  to  the  influence  of  that  trait  in  his 
character,  upon  his  actions,  his  loving  and  always 
judicious  mother  whose  counsel  w^as  almost  like  pre- 
scriptive law  to  her  son,  wrote  to  him  during  the 
campaign,  "Use  every  precaution  you  can  consistent 
wdth  the  daring  of  an  American  officer,  while  you 
are  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Indians.  ^ever 
shrink  from  exposure  when  there  is  just  cause ; 
but  thoughtless  disregard  of  danger  is  no  sign  of 
bravery." 

During  that  campaign  Lieutenant  Greble  w\as 
Commissary  and  Quartermaster  of  the  troops,  and 
performed  the  duties  with  singular  skill  and  fidelity. 
And  when  late  in  the  autumn  of  1856,  fresh  troops 
were  sent  to  Florida  and  the  regiment  to  which  he 
was  attached  w^as  ordered  to  the  north,  he  was  re- 
lieved from  duty  in  swamp  and  everglade,  by  an 
order  dated  "  Head-Quarters,  Department  of  Florida, 
Fort  Brooke,  l^ovember  8,  1856,"  and  signed  by 
Francis  ]^.  Page,  Assistant  Adjutant-General.  His 
commissary  and  quartermaster's  accounts  were  very 
soon  adjusted  after  his  return,  for  they  were  kept  in 


43 

a  perfect  manner.  It  was  found,  after  the  usual  rigid 
examination  of  them,  that  the  government  was  the 
lieutenant's  debtor  to  the  amount  of  ten  cents,  for 
the  payment  of  which  he  received  an  order  on  the 
treasury  in  due  form.  His  father  has  preserved  it  as 
a  curious  illustration  of  the  strict  methods  by  which 
the  government  machinery  is  kept  in  perfect  running 
order. 

So  soon  as  Lieutenant  Greble's  accounts  were  ad- 
justed, he  received  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  (Jefferson  Davis),  dated  in  December,  1856,  to 
report  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Military  Academy 
at  AYest  Point  (Major  Delafield),  for  duty  as  Assist- 
ant professor  in  the  Ethical  Department  of  that  In- 
stitution. At  the  head  of  that  department  was  then 
(and  is  yet  [1870])  the  learned,  pious,  and  faithful 
minister  of  the  gospel,  the  Rev.  John  AY.  French, 
D.  D.,  who  was  then  (and  is  yet)  the  chaplain  of  the 
post.  The  appointment,  made  at  the  special  request 
of  the  professors  of  the  Academy,  was  not  congenial 
to  the  taste  of  the  lieutenant.  He  preferred  the  more 
active  duties  in  the  field,  for  those  of  a  teacher  were 
tame  in  comparison.  He  applied  to  be  released  from 
duty  at  the  Academy  and  allowed  to  join  his  com- 
pany, but  the  favor  was  denied.  A  little  later,  when 
he  was  appointed  to  a  first  lieutenancy  (March  .3, 
1857),  he  again  asked  for  the  privilege  of  joining  his 
company,  when  it  was  again  denied.  Then,  as  usual 
with  him,  though  sorely  disappointed,  he  made  incli- 
nation subservient  to  obedience,  and  he  performed 
the  service  prescrilDcd  by  authority  with  alacrity  and 


44 

zeal.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  instances  in  the  lives 
of  all  men,  Lientenant  Gre.ble's  disappointment  was 
a  mercy  in  disguise. 

The  winning  manners  and  beautiful  life  of  his 
senior  professor,  and  the  parental  kindness  which  he 
experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  good  doctor  and  his 
sweet  wife,  not  only  reconciled  this  youngest  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty  to  his  ncAV  sphere  of  duty,  but  led 
him  into  paths  of  delicious  enjoyment  quite  unsus- 
pected by  him.  Dr.  French  was  already  familiar 
with  the  general  character  of  his  assistant  as  a 
cadet  and  an  officer;  and,  now,  by  a  closer  relation- 
ship in  daily  duty,  he  discovered  the  fine  gold  of 
that  character  in  such  abundance  that  he  made  him 
his  companion,  and  an  ever-welcome  guest  at  his 
table  and  fireside. 

In  that  family  a  new  realm  of  existence  and  enjoy- 
ment was  revealed  to  the  young  pi'ofessor.  It  first 
broke  upon  his  vision  as  a  counterpart  of  the  pure 
and  delightsome  home  influences  which,  from  earliest 
childhood,  he  had  experienced,  and  were  the  brightest 
pictures  in  the  gallery  of  his  memory  when  he  was 
living  the  life  of  a  soldier  in  the  roughest  fields 
of  active  duty.  The  vision  gradually  grew  more 
beautiful,  and  the  central  attraction  in  it  was  the 
charming  daughter  of  Professor  French,  a  sensible, 
gay,  intellectual,  innocent,  laughing  girl,  the  joy  of 
her  parents,  and  the  admired  of  all  beholders.  The 
young  professor's  letters  to  his  mother  soon  began 
to  be  burdened  with  pleasant  sayings  about  the 
family  of  his  senior ;  and  it  was  evident  that  while 


45 

he  loved  Dr.  French  much,  he  loved  his  daughter 
Sarah  more.  His  love  was  reciprocated  by  her.  In 
both  it  Avas  the  oftsj^ring  of  purest  friendship  created 
by  solid  esteem.  They  appreciated  each  other's 
character,  and  they  were  worthy  of  each  other. 
"With  the  approval  of  her  parents  and  his  own,  he 
became  an  openly  accepted  suitor,  and  they  were 
affianced.  Golden  were  the  days  of  both  between 
that  betrothal  and  their  nuptials.  The  native  purity 
of  his  character  was  still  more  refined  in  the  cruci- 
ble of  love. 

"He  had  ceased 
To  live  within  liimself.    She  was  his  life, 
The  ocean  to  the  river  of  his  thoughts, 
Which  terminated  all," 

Tender  and  serious  were  his  epistles  to  her  when 
they  were  separated  by  distance.  "  May  I  be  better 
and  braver,  more  honorable  and  more  generous  since 
I  have  gained  such  love,"  he  wrote  on  one  occasion. 
"  May  you  never  know  sorrow !  It  is  treason  to 
mention  such  a  word  to  you  who  know  so  little  its 
meaning.     Do  not  look  out  the  word.     ISTever  learn 

its  meaning I  have  everything  to  make 

me  happy  excepting  what  bad  there  is  in  myself; 
and  that,  I  trust,  with  your  kind  help  and  the 
assistance  of  a  Higher  Power,  may  soon  be  driven 
from  me." 

And  so  months  passed  away  wdiile  the  affianced 
waited  for  the  nuptial  ceremonies.  A  little  south 
of  the  lines  of  the  military  post  of  West  Point,  in 
the  most  picturesque  region  of  the  Hudson  High- 


46 

lands,  is  a,  beautiful  little  church,  built  many  years 
a«'0  by  funds  largely  contributed  by  the  eminent 
artist,  Professor  "Weir,  of  West  Point,  as  an  oftering 
of  affection  in  commemoration  of  little  children  he 
had  lost.  In  that  modest  temple  of  worship,  called 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  on  a  summer  day, 
the  4th  of  August  1858,  John  T.  Grreble  and  Sarah  B. 
French  were  united  in  wedlock  by  the  father  of  the 
bride.  A  short  tour  followed,  and  then  the  young 
couple  made  for  themselves  a  home  in  a  pleasant 
little  cottage  close  by  the  dwelling  of  the  parents  of 
the  Avife.  In  its  interior  arrangements  and  outside 
adornment  of  shrubs  and  vines,  it  was  an  example  of 
good  taste ;  and  for  more  than  tAVO  years  uninter- 
rupted domestic  happiness  Avas  as  perpetual  sunlight 
in  that  dAvelling.  Then  came  a  disturbance  of  the 
stream  of  life  on  which  they  Avere  borne  so  gently. 

In  the  autumn  of  1860,  portents  of  the  terrible 
storm  of  civil  Avar  Avhich  burst  upon  our  land  a  fcAV 
months  later,  Avere  everj^Avhere  apparent.  Men  Avho 
Avere  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  government  Avere 
secretly  preparing  to  destroy  it  for  the  purpose  of 
building  up  from  its  ruins  an  empire,  AA'hose  corner 
stone  should  be  the  system  of  human  slavery  then 
existing  in  several  states  of  our  Republic.  In  those 
states  forts  and  arsenals  were  filled  Avith  men,  arms 
and  ammunition  draAvn  from  those  in  free-labor 
states,  preparatory  to  a  rebellion  and  revolution. 
Among  the  strongholds  so  situated  was  poAverful 
Fortress  Monroe,  on  the  margin  of  Hampton  Roads 
in    southeastern   Virginia,    Avhich   the    conspirators 


47 

expected  to  seize  and  hold.  Lieutenant  Greble's 
company  formed  a  part  of  the  garrison  there,  and  in 
October,  1860,  he  was  relieved  from  duty  at  "West 
Point  and  ordered  to  join  his  company  in  arms. 
His  home  on  the  Hudson,  in  which  he  left  his  wife 
and  two  babes,  was  speedily  broken  up,  for  they 
followed  him  in  ;N"ovember.  In  two  of  the  casemates 
of  the  grim  fortress  they  found  a  comfortable  dwell- 
ing which  the  husband,  with  exquisite  taste,  had  so 
fitted  up  that  it  appeared  reall}^  beautiful  and  attrac- 
tive. 

^ot  long  after  Lieutenant  Greble  and  his  family 
became  settled  at  Fortress  Monroe,  a  trial  of  the 
loyalty  of  the  servants  of  the  Republic  began.  The 
passage  of  the  ordinance  of  secession  by  a  conven- 
tion of  politicians,  in  South  Carolina,  late  in  Decem- 
ber, was  the  signal  for  action  elsewhere.  Officers 
in  the  military  and  naval  service  began  to  offer 
their  resignations  preparatory  to  an  alliance  with 
the  enemies  of  the  government  in  an  armed  resist- 
ance to  its  authority.  Among  them  was  a  friend 
and  classmate  of  Lieutenant  Greble,  then  stationed 
at  Fortress  Monroe.  When  the  Lieutenant  heard  of 
the  act,  he  hastened  to  his  friend,  and  remonstrated 
with  him  Avith  such  force  of  argument  and  warmth 
of  patriotism  that  he  was  induced  to  reconsider  his 
treasonable  designs.  He  was  Avilling  to  retrace  his 
dangerous  steps,  but  there  was  a  difficulty  in  the 
way.  To  recall  his  resignation,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  him  to  go  immediately  to  Washington  city, 
and,  perhaps,  remain  there  some  time.     He  had  not 


48 

sufficient  means  for  the  purpose.  These  were  freely 
offered  by  Lieutenant  Greble  from  his  own  purse, 
which  contained  only  sufficient  for  his  own  needs. 
He  was  resolved  to  save  from  ruin,  and  to  the  service 
of  his  country,  a  friend  and  skilful  officer,  and  he 
made  a  sacrifice  for  that  end.  He  was  fond  of  books, 
and  had  a  choice  collection  at  his  quarters.  He  was 
about  to  add  to  it  a  copy  of  the  "  Encyclopedia  Bri- 
tannica,"  having  already  ordered  the  work.  He 
countermanded  the  order,  gave  his  friend  the  amount 
he  was  to  pay  for  the  books,  and  with  joyful  heart 
saw  him  start  for  the  national  capital  on  his  re- 
pentant errand. 

Here  attention  may  be  properly  called  to  a  trait 
in  the  character  of  Lieutenant  Greble,  worthy  of  the 
gravest  consideration  by  young  men  when  starting 
out  in  life  for  themselves.  His  father  was  in  affluent 
circumstances,  and  Avas  ever  ready  to  give  ample 
pecuniary  aid  to  his  son ;  but  that  son,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  proper  independence  of  spirit,  had  resolved 
to  make  his  wants  conform  to  the  income  of  a  pro- 
fession which  he  had  chosen  as  a  life  vocation. 
From  the  hour  Avhen  he  entered  the  service  of  his 
country,  his  uniform  practice  was  in  accordance 
with  that  resolution;  and  every  gift  which  he  re- 
ceived from  his  parents  he  gratefully  thanked  them 
for  as  a  token  of  affection,  and  not  as  a  heli3  in  the 
battle  of  life.  "With  the  unfeigned  expression  of 
delight  which  an  unexpected  and  welcome  gift  from 
a  friend  might  evoke,  did  he  acknowledge  the  present 
of  a  pail-  of  elegant  pistols  which  his  father  sent  to 
him  at  Fortress  Monroe. 


49 

Toward  the  middle  of  April,  18G1,  war  was  fairly 
commenced  by  the  conspirators  against  the  life  of 
the  Republic,  by  a  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  in 
Charleston  harbor  in  obedience  to  their  orders,  the 
expulsion  of  the  national  garrison,  and  the  seizure 
of  the  stronghold  as  spoil.  Then  President  Lincoln 
called  for  seventy-five  thousand  troops  to  suppress 
the  rising  rebellion,  and  reinforcements  were  sent  to 
the  garrison  at  Fortress  Monroe  to  give  it  strength 
sufficient  to  resist  any  attack  from  the  Virginia  in- 
surgents. As  all  the  quarters  there  would  be  needed 
for  the  troops,  orders  were  issued  for  the  removal  of 
the  women  and  children  from  the  post.  The  little 
family  of  Lieutenant  Greble  were  subject  to  this 
order.  He  sent  a  notice  of  the  fact  to  his  father,  and 
received  from  that  patriotic  citizen  the  following 
letter  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man  : — 

"  PniLADELPniA,  April  19,  18(31. 

"  My  Dear  Son^  : — 

Your  letter  of  the  17th  was  received  about  ten 
minutes  ago.  I  was  in  hourly  expectation  of  re- 
ceiving one  from  you,  and  anticipated  its  contents. 
Send  your  family  on  to  me  ;  they  shall  be  most  wel- 
come, and  I  will  take  good  care  of  them  as  long  as 
the  trouble  shall  exist. 

"  It  is  needless  so  say  to  you,  be  true  to  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  The  blood  of  revolutionary  patriots  is 
in  your  veins,  and  it  must  all  be  drawn  out  before 
you  cease  to  fight  for  your  country  and  its  laws. 

"I  saAv  in  this  day's  paper  that  treason  was  within 

7 


50 

the  walls  of  Fortress  Monroe,  and  that  a  scheme  had 
been  discovered  to  betray  the  fort  into  the  hands  of 
the  secessionists.  I  have  most  strenuously  contra- 
dicted it,  and  tell  my  friends  that  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  traitor,  from  the  highest  in  command  to 
the  private  soldier,  within  the  walls  of  Fort  Monroe, 
and  that  if  there  should  be  found  such  a  villain.  Col. 
Dimick  would  soon  have  him  before  a  platoon,  who 
would  make  short  Avork  of  him.  Give  my  best  re- 
gards to  Col.  Dimick.  The  eyes  of  the  nation  are 
now  upon  him.  His  position  is  of  tenfold  more  im- 
portance than  that  of  Major  Anderson's  was  at  Fort 
Sumter.  Every  officer  and  every  man  share  with 
him  in  the  responsibility  and  glory  of  defending  this 
important  post. 

"  The  war  feeling  in  this  city  is  '  up  and  for  doing.' 
The  entire  population  are  infected.  There  is  no 
'  divided  ^orth' ;  all  j)^i"ties  are  outraged  by  the 
treason  of  the  South.  The  secession  of  Virginia  was 
expected  and  even  desired :  let  the  battle-ground  be 
on  her  soil ! 

"  I  made  an  offer  to  equip  any  two  of  my  work- 
men that  desired  to  serve  their  country.  Kobert 
Garrett  and  George  Wallen  accepted  the  offer. 
Wallen  is  an  apprentice  over  twenty  years  of  age. 
He  is  worth  to  me  two  dollars  jDer  day.  I  cheerfully 
let  him  go.  Your  mother  is  now  making  purchases 
for  them.  I  have  directed  her  to  get  every  article 
they  may  want,  and  that  of  the  best  quality.  "Word 
has  just  come  to  me  that  another  of  my  apprentices, 
a  first-rate  fellow,  has  enlisted.     He  has  my  permis- 


sion.     I  expect  my  j^laces  will  be  depopulated ;  the 
war  fever  is  among  them. 

"Last  night  I  joined  the  old  'Washington  Gra3^s.' 
They  will  organize  a  regiment  for  home  protection. 
It  would  have  done  you  good  to  see  the  gray  and 
bald-headed  men  with  the  ardor  of  youth  enrolling 
themselves — men  who  own  hundreds  of  thousands. 
Mr.  Dreer  was  among  them.  He  sends  his  love  to 
you  and  family.  He  is  very  enthusiastic,  and  will 
contribute  largely  to  the  supporting  of  his  country. 

"The  troops  from  Massachusetts  arrived  last 
night,  and  departed  this  morning.  They  are  a  fine 
looking  body  of  men.  To-night  we  expect  the  7tli 
Regiment  from  New  York. 

"  To  get  this  letter  by  to-day's  mail,  I  must  now 
close.  Our  dearest  loves  to  you  all.  My  regards  to 
the  ofiicers  whom  I  know. 

"  Your  affectionate  father, 

EDWIN  GREBLE." 

It  seems  proper  to  say  that  this  patriotic  father, 
who  gave  this  soldier  son,  also  a  younger  and  only 
other  one,  and  several  of  his  workmen,  to  the  service 
of  his  country  in  its  hour  of  greatest  need,  and  en- 
rolled himself,  with  his  neighbors  and  friends  wdth 
a  readiness  to  take  the  field  if  necessary,  gave  also 
his  time  and  money  freely  for  the  cause  during  the 
entire  period  of  the  war. 

Mrs.  Grreble,  with  her  two  children  and  nurse,  left 
Fortress  Monroe  for  Philadelphia  on  the  18th  of 
April,  and  arrived  in  Baltimore  the  next  day  at  the 


52 

time  of  the  murderous  attack  of  the  mob  ou  Massa- 
chusetts and  Pennsylvania  troops  that  were  on  their 
way  to  "Washington  city.  All  lines  of  communica- 
tion with  the  ]!^orth  were  cut  off,  and  this  brave 
3^oung  mother,  with  her  little  family,  was  compelled 
to  go  by  way  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  Western  Mary- 
land and  Virginia  to  Ohio,  and  thence  eastward 
through  Pittsburg  and  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia, 
where  she  was  received  with  open  arms  by  the  family 
of  her  husband.  That  husband  was  for  several  days 
ignorant  of  the  perils  to  which  his  loved  ones  had 
been  exposed. 

After  the  departure  of  his  family.  Lieutenant 
Greble  employed  much  of  his  leisure  time  in  read- 
ing, in  writing  letters  to  his  wife  aud  his  parents,  and 
in  jotting  down  his  thoughts  in  his  note-book.  His 
young  wife's  letters  to  him  were  sources  of  exquisite 
enjoyment.  "It  is  delightful  to  hear  from  you,"  he 
wrote,  weeks  after  their  departure,  "and  to  learn  how 
rapidly  the  little  ones  are  progressing.  To  me  it 
seems  Avonderful  that  Edwin  should  be  talkina'  so 
plainly  in  such  long  sentences;  and  that  the  little 
girl  should  be  different  from  what  she  Avas  when  you 
left  me.  I  am  very  proud  of  my  wife  and  little  ones; 
and  I  very  often  hear  others  speak  of  them  in  such  a 
way  as  to  justify  me  and  to  make  me  regard  them  as 

persons  of  good  taste  and  judgment.     J G , 

who  was  here  the  other  day,  spoke  very  prettily  of 
you.  If  Clara  grows  up  to  be  as  beautiful  in  woman- 
hood as  her  mother,  and  Edwin  grows  to  be  a  better 


53 

man  than  his  father,  my  dearest  wishes  will  be  ful- 
filled." 

He  was  very  prudent  in  Avriting  to  his  Avife  con- 
cerning iDublic  matters.  "  Be  careful,"  he  said,  "  to 
whom  you  speak  about  what  I  Avrite.  I  may,  by 
accident,  say  something  about  Avhat  we  do  here,  that 
it  would  not  be  advisable  to  repeat.  Besides,  I  have 
a  horror  of  anything  I  write  getting  into  print." 

One  record  in  his  note-book,  of  his  meditations, 
possesses  much  interest  in  connection  with  the  sad 
event  which  occurred  in  the  early  summer  months, 
soon  afterward.  "  De  Quincy,"  he  wrote,  "  thinks 
that  death  in  summer  time  seems  always  saddest, 
and  amongst  several  reasons,  adduces  the  idea  of  the 
contrast  between  the  beautiful  world  left  behind  and 
the  dismal  grave.  I  think  that  the  winter  funeral 
brings  the  most  awful  feelings  to  the  mind.  In  sum- 
mer the  grave  seems  but  an  opening  in  the  ground  in 
which  we  are  to  plant  seed  that  in  time  will  ripen 
into  plants  more  beautiful  than  the  tall  trees  and  rich 
floAvers  around  us.  I  think,  too,  that  when  the  blood 
runs  quickly  through  our  veins  in  the  warm  sun- 
shine, we  may  more  easily  form  a  proper  estimate  of 
that  heavenly  world  which  so  far  exceeds  in  beauty 
this.  I  believe  it  is  easier  to  estimate  a  knowledge 
of  a  higher  degree  of  a  quality  in  proceeding  from  a 
knowledge  of  a  lower  degree  of  the  same,  than  it 
would  be  if  we  commenced  by  overleaping  a  contrast. 
The  hard  ground  and  ice-cemented  gravel  of  a  winter 
grave,  the  snow  and  the  wind,  bring  to  our  mind  a 


54 

heaven  different  from  that  seen  through  green  boughs, 
flowers,  and  grassy  mounds." 

Consonant  with  this  feeling  was  that  of  the  un- 
named poet,  who  wrote : — 

Oh,  lay  me  in  the  beauteous  earth 

Beneath  the  flowers  of  June  ; 
When  all  the  groves  are  filled  -with  song — 

Our  hearts  are  all  attune 
With  voices  that  come  down  the  sky 

From  realms  of  light  afar, 
And  sweetly  tell  the  captive  soul 

Of  prison  doors  ajar, 
Through  which  it  maj%  with  folded  wings, 

Pass  out  Avith  sins  forgiven, 
And,  spreading  them  in  God's  free  air, 

Fly  to  its  native  heaven. 

Lieutenant  Greble  was  anxious  to  act  in  a  broader 
sphere  of  usefulness  than  his  commission  would 
allow;  and  on  the  6tli  of  May  he  asked  Colonel 
Phelps  to  give  him  a  captain's  commission  in  a  new 
regiment  of  artillery,  or  to  be  transferred  "  to  a  j^osi- 
tion  among  the  five  highest  first  lieutenants  in  the 
regiment."  His  aspirations  were  gratified,  not  ex- 
actly in  the  way  he  desired,  but  in  a  manner  equally 
satisfactory,  as  we  shall  observe  presently. 

Major-General  B.  F.  Butler  had  been  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia,  at  the 
middle  of  May,  with  his  head-quarters  at  Fortress 
jNIonroe.  He  arrived  there  on  the  22d  of  the  month, 
and  was  cordially  welcomed  by  Colonel  Dimick,  of 
the  regular  army,  who,  as  commander  of  the  post, 
had  acted  with  great  i^rudence,  skill,  and  patriotism. 
He  had  alread}^  quietly  and  significantly  turned  a 


55 

large  number  of  the  four  hundred  great  guns  of  the 
fortress  landward,  and  so  taught  the  Virginia  con- 
spirators and  their  deceived  follow  ers  to  be  very  cau- 
tious and  circumspect. 

General  Butler  found  that  key  to  the  Avaters  of 
Maryland,  Virginia  and  upper  ^orth  Carolina, 
firmly  in  possession  of  the  garrison.  To  the  further 
security  of  the  position  he  bent  his  energies.  He 
sent  Colonel  Phelps  at  the  head  of  Vermont  troops, 
on  the  23d  of  May,  to  reconnoitre  the  vicinity  of 
Hampton.  They  found  the  bridge  over  Hampton 
Creek  in  flames  kindled  by  the  insurgents.  The 
fire  was  extinguished.  They  crossed  over,  dashed 
into  Hampton,  drove  the  fcAV  armed  insurgents  there 
out  upon  the  road  to  Yorktown,  and  returning, 
established  a  camp  on  the  borders  of  Hampton 
Creek  and  cast  up  a  redoubt  at  the  end  of  the 
bridge — the  first  fortification  constructed  by  the 
National  troops  on  Virginia  soil. 

General  Butler  now  planned  and  began  to  execute 
operations  against  Kichmond,  the  chosen  capital  of 
the  so-called  "  Confederate  Government."  On  the 
27th  of  May,  he  sent  Colonel  Phelps  with  a  detach- 
ment of  troops,  to  occupy  and  fortify  the  promon- 
tory of  Xewport-^ewce,  at  the  mouth  of  the  James 
Kiver,  where  the  gun-boat  Harriet  Lane  was  sta- 
tioned for  their  protection.  He  was  accompanied 
by  Lieutenant  Greble  whom,  the  day  before,  he  had 
appointed  Master  of  Ordnance,  Avith  the  responsible 
duty  of  superintending  the  construction  of  military 
Avorks   at    ]!*s^ewport-iS^eAvce,    and   instructing   about 


56 

three  thousand  volunteers  in  artillery  practice.  His 
command  consisted  of  two  subaltern  officers  and 
twenty  men  of  the  regular  army,  "  Camp  Butler" 
was  immediately  established ;  and  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days,  Lieutenant  Greble  had  a  battery  planted 
that  commanded  the  ship-channel  of  the  James 
Kiver  and  the  mouth  of  the  ]!^ansemond,  on  one  side 
of  which,  on  Pig  Point,  the  insurgents  had  con- 
structed a  strong  redoubt  and  armed  it  w^ith  cannon 
stolen  from  the  Gosport  !N^avy  Yard. 

On  the  day  after  Colonel  Phelj^s's  departure  from 
Fortress  Monroe,  Colonel  Abraham  Duryee,  com- 
mander of  a  regiment  of  Zouaves  composing  the 
Fifth  JSTew  York  Volunteers,  arrived  at  that  x^ost 
and  took  command  of  Camp  Hamilton  on  the  borders 
of  Hampton  Creek.  His  troops  there  consisted  of 
the  First,  Second,  Third,  Fifth,  Tenth,  and  Twen- 
tieth ]^ew  York  Yolunteer  regiments,  and  the 
Pennsylvania  Seventy-first,  known  as  the  California 
Pegiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Baker,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  States  Senate,  who  was  afterward 
killed  at  Ball's  Blufi",  on  the  Potomac.  Duryee  was 
succeeded  in  command  a  few  days  after  his  arrival, 
by  Brigadier-General  E.  W.  Peirce,  of  Massachu- 
setts.    It  was  on  the  4th  of  June. 

The  necessary  inaction  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  at  jSTewport-JS^ewce, 
which  Lieutenant  Greble  had  made  almost  impreg- 
nable, caused  the  armed  insurgents  on  the  Peninsula, 
commanded  by  Colonel  J.  Bankhead  Magruder,  who 
had  deserted  his  flag  and  joined  its  enemies,  to  act 


57 

with  boldness,  and  yet  with  caution  and  vigihmce. 
Their  principal  rendezvous  was  at  Yorktown,  whicli 
they  were  fortifying-,  and  from  which  they  came 
down  the  Peninsula  and  established  intrenched  posts 
at  Big'  and  Little  Bethel.  Magruder  evidently  in- 
tended to  attempt  the  seizure  of  Ha,mpton  and  Kew- 
port-]^ewce,  and  confine  the  JN^ational  troops  to 
Fortress  Monroe. 

General  Butler,  satisfied  that  such  were  Magruder's 
intentions,  determined  to  make  a  countervailing 
movement  by  an  attack  upon  his  outposts  by  troops 
moving  upon  them  at  midnight  in  two  columns,  one 
from  Fortress  Monroe,  and  the  other  from  IN^ewport- 
l^Tewce.  On  Sunday,  the  9th  of  June,  General  Peirce 
received  a  summons  from  General  Butler  to  repair 
to  the  Fortress.  Too  ill  to  ride  on  horseback, 
Peirce  went  to  the  fort  by  water.  There  he  was 
shown  a  plan  for  an  attack  upon  the  insurgents 
at  the  two  Bethels,  which  had  been  arranged, 
as  Major  Theodore  Winthrop  of  General  Butler's 
stafl*  wrote  in  his  diary,  partly  from  the  hints 
of  the  General,  and  partly  by  the  fancy  of  that 
aide-de-camp.  General  Peirce  then  received  orders 
to  command  the  expedition.  He  was  instructed  to 
lead  Duryee's  Fifth  and  Townsend's  Third  New 
York  Yolunteers,  from  Camp  Hamilton  to  a  point 
near  Little  Bethel,  where  he  was  to  be  joined  by  a 
detachment  of  Colonel  Phelps's  command,  at  H^ew- 
port-]l*N^ewce.  The  latter  consisted  of  a  battalion  of 
Vermont  and  Massachusetts  troops  under  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel lYashburne;  Colonel  Bendix's  Ger- 


58 

mans,  composing  the  Seventh  ]N  ew  York,  and  knoAvn 
as  the  Stenben  rifles,  and  a  battery  of  two  light 
field-pieces — six  ponnders — in  charge  of  Lieutenant 
Greble,  who  was  accompanied  by  eleven  artillery- 
men of  his  little  band  of  regulars. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  at  whose  evening 
close  the  movement  against  the  insurgents  was  un- 
dertaken, T.  Bailey  Myers,  an  ofiicer  of  General 
Butler's  staft',  visited  Lieutenant  Greble.  In  a  letter 
written  after  the  death  of  that  young  ofiicer,  Mr. 
Myers  said : — 

"I  found  him  with  his  tent  pitched  nearest  the 
enemy,  in  the  most  exposed  position,  one  of  his  own 
selecting,  living  and  sleeping  by  his  gun,  the  gun 
which  he  used  so  faithfully  a  few  hours  later.  His 
pleasant  open  face,  and  kind,  gentle  manner,  w^on  me 
from  the  first.  AYe  exchanged  many  little  courtesies. 
I  was  his  guest,  and  the  object  of  his  thoughtful  and 
kind  attentions.  I  never  met  with  a  more  high- 
minded,  honorable  gentleman.  If,  in  this  rebellion, 
Ave  met  with  no  other  loss,  one  such  man  is  enough 
to  render  it  an  execration  throughout  all  time.  He 
Avas  intent  on  robbing  Avar  of  half  its  horrors ;  and 
was  deeply  interested  in,  and  cooperated  Avith  me 
manfully  in  plans  for  checking  the  depredations 
about  the  camp  at  JN^CAvport-^ewce.  In  this  he  dis- 
played a  firmness  and  moral  courage  that  satisfied 
one  of  his  manly  character,  and  made  a  strong  im- 
pression on  the  General.  He  spoke  of  the  possibility, 
even  probability  of  his  speedy  fall,  with  perfect  cool- 
ness, and  seemed  entirely  prepared  to  meet  all  the 


59 

dangers  of  sustaining  the  flag.  I  need  not  say  to 
you  how  proud  I  should  have  been  to  have  stood  by 
his  side  on  that  fatal  day ;  to  have  seconded  his 
efforts ;  to  have  aided  his  friends  in  bringing  ofl:"  the 
bod}^,  as  I  am  sure  he  Avould  have  brought  mine." 

On  the  morning  of  that  beautiful  Sabbath  day 
when  the  expedition  against  the  outposts  of  the  in- 
surgents was  ordered,  and  iDefore  Lieutenant  Greble 
was  informed  of  the  arrangement,  he  wrote  to  his 
wife  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  of  the  camp,  say- 
ing :— 

"It  is  a  delightful  Sunday  morning.  It  has  a 
Sabliath  feeling  about  it.  If  you  had  lost  the  run  of 
the  week,  such  a  day  as  to-day  would  tell  you  it  was 
the  Sabbath.  The  camp  is  unusually  quiet;  and  its 
stillness  is  broken  by  little  excepting  the  organ-tones 
of  some  of  the  Massachusetts  men,  who  are  on  the 
beach  singing  devotional  airs.  Last  Sabbath  the 
men  were  in  the  trenches.  To-day  is  their  first  day 
of  rest.  A  great  deal  of  work  has  been  done  during 
the  past  week  under  unfavorable  circumstances — 
rainy  days.  With  very  little  additional  labor,  our 
whole  line  of  intrenchments  will  be  finished.  There 
is  a  little  trimming  off  to  be  done,  and  a  magazine  to 
be  built ;  a  little  earth  to  be  thrown  up  in  front  of 
some  heavy  columbiads  that  have  been  mounted,  and 
some  store-houses  to  be  built.  But  enough  has  been 
done  to  allow  the  rest  to  be  completed  by  general 
details,  and  to  give  a  chance  for  drilling.  Colonel 
Phelps  has  appointed  me  ordnance  officer  of  the 
post.     We  do  not  fear  an  attack ;  the  position  is  too 


60 

stronsf.  T  hear  that  Davis  has  o-iven  the  federal 
troops  ten  days  to  leave  the  soil  of  Yirginia.  The 
time  is  nearly  up,  but  we  are  not  quite  ready  to  move 

away I  hope  that  I  may  be  given  courage 

and  good  judgment  enough  to  do  well  my  duty 
under  any  circumstances  m  which  I  may  be  placed. 
As  far  as  I  can  see,  there  is  not  much  danger  to  be 
incurred  in  this  campaign,  at  present.  Both  sides 
seem  to  be  better  inclined  to  talking  than  fighting. 
If  talking  could  settle  it  by  giving  the  supremacy, 
forever,  to  the  general  government,  I  think  it  would 
be  better  than  civil  war.  But  that  talking  can 
settle  it  I  do  not  believe." 

A  few  hours  after  this  letter  was  written  Lieuten- 
ant Greble  was  informed  of  the  order  for  the  move- 
ment against  the  outposts  of  the  insurgents,  and  of 
the  general  plan  of  operations.  He  was  astonished 
and  disturbed.  His  professional  culture  and  quick 
judgment  saw  the  defects  of  the  plan  and  the  perils 
involved  in  an  attempt  to  execute  it.  "  This  is  an 
ill-advised  and  badly-arranged  movement,"  he  said 
to  a  brother  ofiicer.  "I  am  afraid  no  good  will 
come  out  of  it.  As  for  myself,  I  do  not  think  I  shall 
come  off  the  field  alive." 

As  the  expedition  was  to  move  in  the  night,  and 
there  was  to  be  a  conjunction  of  troops  converging 
from  two  points.  General  Butler  took  measures  to 
prevent  accidents.  He  ordered  the  word  "  Boston" 
to  be  given  to  each  party  as  a  watchword,  and  that 
they  should  all  wear  on  their  left  arms  a  white  rag 
or  handkerchief,  so  as  to  be  known  to  each  other. 


61 

He  also  ordered  that  the  troops  which  should  first 
attack  the  insiirgents  should  shout  "  Boston." 

The  column  at  Camp  Hamilton  was  to  move  at 
midnight,  and  that  at  ISTewport-lN^ewce  a  little  later, 
as  its  line  of  march  would  be  over  a  less  distance. 
These  orders  were  promptly  obeyed.  Duryee,  with 
his  Zouaves,  left  just  before  midnight,  preceded  by 
two  companies  of  skirmishers  under  Captains  Bart- 
lett  and  Kilpatrick,  followed  an  hour  later  by  Colonel 
Townsend's  Albany  Regiment  with  two  mountain 
howitzers  to  support  the  Zouaves.  The  fire  had 
made  the  passage  of  Hampton  Bridge,  in  the  dark- 
ness, unsafe,  and  so  the  troops  were  all  ferried  across 
the  creek  in  surf-boats.  Townsend  was  ordered  to 
take  a  by-road  after  crossing  ISTew  Market  Bridge 
over  the  southwest  branch  of  Back  River,  and  to  get 
between  the  insurgent  forces  at  Big  and  Little 
Bethel.  This  accomplished,  he  was  to  fall  upon 
them  at  the  latter  place,  just  at  dawn,  simultaneously 
with  an  attack  from  the  column  from  JN^ewport- 
^ewce,  whose  march  Avas  to  be  timed  in  reference  to 
this  particular  movement.  If  it  should  be  successful, 
the  united  columns  were  to  press  forward  and  attack 
the  insurgents  at  Big  Bethel. 

Owing  to  delay  in  making  the  passage  of  Hamp- 
ton Creek,  the  skirmish  companies  did  not  reach 
jN^ew  Market  Bridge  until  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, where  they  halted  until  the  Zouaves  came  up, 
at  three  o'clock,  when  they  all  pushed  on  toward  the 
new  county  bridge  at  Big  Bethel,  and  a  little  be- 
fore  dawn   captured  an   insurgent  picket-guard   of 


62 

thirty  men.  In  the  meantime,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
"Washbnrne  had  advanced  from  ^N^ewport-J^ewce,  fol- 
lowed by  Colonel  Bendix,  with  his  Germans,  and 
Lieutenant  Greble  with  his  battery  and  little  band 
of  artillerymen  as  supports. 

Both  columns  were  pressing  forward  in  proper  time 
and  order  to  the  designated  point  of  junction,  when, 
in  consequence  of  the  omission  of  one  of  General 
Butler's  aids  (who  had  been  sent  to  ]^ewport-]^ewce 
with  orders  for  the  advance),  to  give  the  watchword 
there  and  directions  about  the  Avhite  badges,  there 
was  a  most  unfortunate  accident.  Townsend  and 
Bendix  approached  the  point  of  junction,  in  a  thick 
wood,  at  the  same  moment.  The  dress  of  Townsend's 
men  was  similar  to  that  of  the  insurgents.  They 
wore  their  wdiite  badges,  and  were  ready  to  shout 
the  watch-w^ord.  Bendix,  ignorant  of  the  order 
concerning  the  word  and  the  badges,  and  knowing 
that  the  insurgents  had,  with  like  precaution,  worn 
a  white  band  around  their  hats,  seeing  Townsend's 
troops  in  the  pale  starlight  made  dim  by  a  slight 
mist,  just  before  the  dawn,  mistook  them  for  Ma- 
gruder's  men.  He  also  mistook  General  Peirce  and 
Colonel  Townsend,  who  were  riding  at  the  head  of 
the  column,  for  insurgent  cavalry.  Satisfied  that  he 
was  confronting  an  enemy,  he  ordered  an  attack, 
and  fire  was  opened  upon  the  front  of  Townsend's 
column  with  musketry  and  one  cannon.  Lieutenant 
Greble,  pushing  eagerly  forward,  was  a  mile  or  more 
in  advance,  with  the  other  cannon.  Townsend's 
men  shouted  "  Boston"  lustily,  while  Bendix's  men 


63 

as  lustily  shouted  "Saratoga."  The  shots  of  the 
Germans  were  returned  irregularly,  for  there  was 
great  confusion.  The  assailed  party  supposing  they 
had  fallen  into  ambush,  retreated  to  the  fork  of  the 
road,  when  the  dreadful  mistake  was  discovered. 
Townsend  had  lost  two  men  killed  and  several 
wounded.  The  aide-de-camp  whose  remissness  had 
caused  the  trouble,  was  present  and  greatly  dis- 
tressed. "How  can  I  go  back  and  look  General 
Butler  in  the  face !"  he  excUiimed. 

Colonel  Duryee,  who,  as  we  have  observed,  had 
just  captured  a  picket-guard,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Washburne  and  Lieutenant  Greble,  all  in  advance, 
hearing  firing  in  their  rear,  supposed  the  insurgents 
had  fallen  upon  their  supporting  columns,  and  they 
immediately  changed  front  and  joined  the  sadly  con- 
fused columns  of  Townsend  and  Bendix.  Mean- 
wdiile,  General  Peirce,  who  was  satisfied  that  the 
insurgents  at  Big  Bethel  had  been  warned  of  the 
approach  of  national  troops  by  the  firing,  sent  for 
reinforcements.  The  First  and  Second  iS^ew  York 
regiments  under  Colonels  Allen  and  Carr,  were  im- 
mediately sent  forward  from  Camp  Hamilton  with 
orders  for  the  latter  to  halt  at  'New  Market  Bridge 
until  further  directions.  The  insurgents  at  Little 
Bethel,  not  more  than  fifty  in  number,  had  fled  to 
the  stronger  post  at  Big  Bethel,  four  or  five  miles 
nearer  Yorktown,  and  twelve  miles  from  Hampton 
Bridge.  Their  position  was  a  strong  one  on  the  bank 
of  the  northwest  branch  of  Back  River,  Avith  that 
stream  directly  in  front,  which  was  there  narrow  and 


64 

shallow  and  spanned  by  a  bridge,  but  widening  on 
each  flank  into  a  morass  that  was,  much  of  the  time, 
impassable.  They  had  erected  a  strong  earthwork 
on  each  side  of  the  road,  which  commanded  the 
bridge,  and  a  line  of  intrenchments  along  the  bank 
of  the  wooded  swamp  on  their  right.  Immediately 
in  the  rear  of  their  works  was  a  wooden  building 
known  as  Big  Bethel  Church.  Behind  their  works, 
which  were  masked  by  green  boughs  and  partly 
concealed  by  a  wood,  Avere  about  eighteen  hundred 
insurgents  (many  of  them  cavalry)  under  Magruder, 
composed  of  Virginians  and  a  ^N^orth  Carolina  regi- 
ment under  Colonel  D.  D.  Hill.  The  whole  insur- 
gent force  at  Big  Bethel  Avas  estimated  by  Kilpatrick, 
after  a  reconnoissance,  to  be  about  four  thousand  men 
and  twenty  pieces  of  heavy  cannon.  They  were  not 
half  that  number. 

The  national  troops  quickly  followed  the  fugitives 
from  Little  Bethel,  and  at  half-past  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning  reached  a  point  within  a  mile  of  Magru- 
der's  works.  Notwithstanding  the  evident  strength 
of  the  insurgents  and  the  fatigue  of  his  oavu  troops 
after  a  night  on  foot  and  a  march  in  the  hot  sun, 
General  Peirce,  after  consultation  with  his  ofiicers, 
resolved  to  attack  the  foe,  and  made  dispositions 
accordingly.  Duryee's  Zouaves  Avere  ordered  to  lead 
in  the  attack.  Skirmishers  under  Captains  Bartlett, 
Kilpatrick,  and  Winslow,  and  all  under  the  general 
command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  G.  K.  Warren  of 
the  Zouaves,  Avho  Avas  familiar  with  the  ground,  Avere 
thrown  out  on  each  side  of  the  road  leading  to  the 


65 

bridge,  closely  followed  by  Duryee,  and  the  four 
pieces  of  artillery  (including  Townsend's  two  moun- 
tain howitzers)  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Greble.  On 
the  right  of  the  advancing  force  was  a  wood  that 
extended  almost  to  the  stream,  and  in  the  front  and 
left  were  an  orchard  and  cornfield.  Into  the  orchard 
and  cornfield  Duryee  advanced  obliquely,  with  Town- 
send  as  a  support  on  the  right  and  rear.  Greble, 
with  his  battery,  continued  to  advance  along  the 
road,  with  Bendix  as  a  support,  whose  regiment 
deployed  in  the  wood  on  the  right  of  the  highway 
toward  the  left  flank  of  the  insurgents,  with  three 
companies  of  Massachusetts  and  Vermont  troops,  of 
Washburne's  command. 

Major  Randolph,  Commander  of  the  Richmond 
Howitzer  Battalion,  opened  the  combat  by  firing  a 
Parrot  rifle-cannon  from  the  insurgent  battery  at  the 
right  of  the  bridge.  To  this  the  national  troops  re- 
sponded with  cheers  while  steadily  advancing.  A 
heavy  fire  from  the  insurgents  followed.  In  the  face 
of  it  the  troops  continued  to  advance,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  dashing  across  the  stream  and  storming  the 
works  of  the  foe.  Most  of  the  shot  had  passed  over 
their  heads.  ]N^ow  the  firing  became  more  accurate. 
Men  began  to  fall  here  and  there.  The  storm  of 
metal  soon  became  intolerable,  and  the  skirmishers 
and  Zouaves  withdrew  to  the  shelter  of  the  woods  on 
the  right  of  the  road.  They  would  doubtless  have 
been  followed  by  the  elated  insurgents  had  not  Lieu- 
tenant Greble,  fully  comprehending  the  perils  of  the 
situation,  with  consummate  skill  and  courage  kept 


66 

them  at  bay  with  his  little  battery.  "With  all  the 
coolness  of  an  officer  on  dress  parade,  he  sighted  the 
pieces,  himself,  every  time  ;  and  continually  advanc- 
ing, he  poured  upon  the  works  of  the  insurgents  such 
a  rapid  and  effective  shower  of  grape  and  canister 
shot,  that  he  silenced  all  their  guns  excepting  the 
rifled  Parrot  cannon.  He  finally  halted  at  a  distance 
of  not  more  than  two  hundred  yards  from  the  muz- 
zles of  Magruder's  cannon,  and  that  position  he  kept 
for  almost  two  hours  with  two  guns  and  eleven  men, 
holding  the  insurgents  in  strict  check  Avhile  the  re- 
mainder of  the  army,  relieved  from  attack,  were 
resting  and  preparing  for  a  general  assault.  AYarren 
managed  to  send  him  some  relief;  and  so  it  was  that 
by  a  skilful  use  of  his  guns,  with  a  limited  supply  of 
ammunition.  Lieutenant  Greble  kept  the  enemy 
within  their  works  until  the  national  troops  were 
ready  to  renew  the  attack. 

At  noon  the  bugles  sounded  a  charge,  and  Peirce's 
little  army  of  twenty-five  hundred  men  moved  rapidly 
forward  with  instructions  to  dash  across  the  morass, 
flank  the  works  of  the  insurgents,  and  drive  out  the 
occupants  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Duryee's 
Zouaves  moved  to  attack  them  on  their  left,  and 
Townsend's  regiment  started  for  like  service  against 
their  right,  while  Bendix,  with  his  Germans,  and  the 
rest  of  the  troops  of  the  ^ewport-I^ewce  detachment 
should  assail  them  on  the  left  flank  and  rear.  Gre- 
ble, meanwhile,  kept  his  position  in  the  road  on  their 
front. 

Kilpatrick,  Bartlett,  and  "Winslow  charged  boldly 


67 

on  the  front  of  the  foe,  while  Captain  Dimick  and 
Lieutenant  Duiyee  (son  of  the  colonel)  and  some  of 
Townsend's  regiment  as  boldly  fell  upon  their  right. 
The  insurgents  were  driven  out  of  their  battery 
nearest  the  bridge,  and  a  speedy  victory  for  the 
national  troops  seemed  inevitable.  The  Zouaves 
were  then  advancing  through  the  wood  to  the  morass, 
but  their  commander,  believing  it  to  be  impassable, 
ordered  them  to  retire.  Townsend  was  pressing 
vigorously  on  toward  the  right  of  the  foe,  but  Avas 
suddenly  checked  by  a  fatal  blunder.  In  the  haste 
of  starting,  two  companies  of  his  regiment  had 
marched  unobserved  on  the  side  of  a  thickly-hedged 
ditch  opposite  the  main  body,  and,  pushing  rapidly 
forward,  came  up  a  gentle  slope  at  some  distance  in 
the  front  Avhere  the  smoke  was  thick,  to  join  their 
companions.  Their  dress,  as  we  have  observed,  was 
similar  to  that  worn  by  the  insurgents,  and  they  were 
mistaken  for  a  party  of  Magruder's  men  outflanking 
the  JSiew  Yorkers.  Townsend  immediately  halted, 
and  then  fell  back  to  the  point  of  departure. 

At  this  critical  juncture.  General  Peirce  had  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Zouaves  to  lead  them  to 
an  attack,  and  Bendix  and  the  rest  of  the  ^ewport- 
]^^ewce  detachment  were  pressing  forward  in  obedience 
to  orders.  Some  of  them  crossed  the  morass  and  felt 
sure  of  victory,  when  they  were  driven  back  by  a 
murderous  fire.  The  insurgents  having  been  relieved 
from  pressure  on  their  right  by  the  withdrawal  of 
Townsend,  had  concentrated  the  forces  at  the  front 
of  this  assaulting  party.     Major  Theodore  Winthrop, 


68 

a  gallant  young  officer  of  General  Butler's  staff,  was 
with  the  ]^ewport-]S^ewce  troops  at  the  time,  and  had 
pressed  eagerly  forward  with  private  Jones  of  the 
Vermont  regiment,  to  a  point  within  thirty  or  forty 
yards  of  the  battery.  There  he  sprang  upon  a  log  to 
get  a  view  of  the  position,  when  the  bullet  of  a  l!^ortli 
Carolina  drummer-boy  penetrated  his  brain,  and  he 
fell  dead. 

Townsend's  retirement,  the  repulse  on  the  right, 
and  the  assurance  of  Colonel  Duryee  that  his  ammu- 
nition was  exhausted,  caused  General  Peirce,  with 
the  concurrence  of  his  colonels,  to  order  a  retreat. 
Lieutenant  Greble  was  still  at  work,  but  with  only 
one  gun,  for  he  had  only  five  men  left.  An  officer 
who  saw  that  the  day  was  lost,  went  to  him  and 
begged  him  to  retreat,  or  at  least  to  dodge  as  the 
others  did.  His  characteristic  reply  was,  "  I  never 
DODGE !  When  I  hear  the  bugle  sound  a  retreat  I 
will  leave,  and  not  before."  Then  came  the  order 
to  retire,  when  he  directed  Corporal  Peoples  to 
limber  up  the  piece  and  take  it  away.  The  order 
had  scarcely  passed  his  lips  Avhen  a  ball  from  Ran- 
dolph's rifled  cannon  struck  a  glancing  blow  on  the 
right  side  of  his  head.  "  Sergeant !"  he  exclaimed, 
"  take  command — go  a-head,"  and  then  fell  dead  by 
the  side  of  the  gun  he  had  so  nobly  served,  and  with 
which  he  had  saved  the  little  army  from  greater  dis- 
aster. "  I  Avas  near  him  durino;  much  of  the  eng-ao^e- 
ment  between  the  two  forces,"  Lieutenant-Colonel 
(afterward  Major-General)  G.  K.  Warren  wrote, 
just  after  the   battle,   "and  can  testify  to  his  un- 


69 

daunted  bravery  in  the  action,  and  to  the  skill  and 
success  with  which  his  o-uns  were  served.  His  efii- 
ciency  alone  prevented  our  loss  from  being  thrice 
what  it  was,  by  preventing  the  opposing  batteries 
from  sweeping  the  road  along  which  we  marched ; 
and  the  impression  which  he  made  on  the  enemy  de- 
terred them  from  pursuing  our  retreating  forces  hours 
after  he  had  ceased  to  live." 

Such,  also,  was  the  judgment  of  others.  He  sacri- 
ficed his  own  life  for  the  lives  of  many,  and  the  honor 
of  his  country.  Had  he  "  dodged"  or  retreated,  as 
he  was  urged  to  do,  the  effect  would  have  been  to  in- 
timidate the  few  men  that  remained  with  him,  and  to 
allow  the  enemy  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  little 
army.     He  knew  this,  and  stood  by  his  gun. 

When  Lieutenant  Greble  fell,  his  guns  were  aban- 
doned, and  the  whole  army,  covered  by  the  fresh 
troops  under  Colonel  Allen  who  arrived  just  before 
the  close  of  the  battle,  retreated  in  excellent  order. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  AVarren  and  Captain  AVilson  ral- 
lied a  few  men,  and  placing  the  body  of  the  gallant 
Greble  on  one  of  his  guns,  took  both  in  safety  to 
Fortress  Monroe.  All  the  dead  and  wounded,  ex- 
cepting the  body  of  young  Winthrop,  were  borne 
from  the  field  by  the  retiring  troops.  Out  of  respect 
to  the  gallantry  of  that  officer,  the  insurgents  gave 
it  a  respectful  burial  at  Bethel,  and  a  few  days  after- 
wards allowed  it  to  be  disinterred  and  delivered  to 
the  friends  of  the  dead  hero.  Arms  and  ammunition 
were  also  borne  away ;  and  very  little  inconvenience 
was   experienced   from   the   insurgent   cavalry  who 


70 

pursued  about  six  miles,  when  they  turned  back,  and 
MaiTi'uder  and  his  little  force  withdrew  to  Yorktown. 
Lieutenant  Greble's  body  was  borne  tenderly  by 
his  brother  officers  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and  there 
prepared  for  burial.  In  one  of  his  pockets  was  found 
a  pencil-drawn  note  to  his  wife,  whom  he  had  not 
seen  since  her  departure  for  Philadelphia,  with  her 
babes,  more  than  seven  weeks  before.  It  was  evi- 
dently written  after  his  arrival  on  the  field  Avhere  he 
was  to  suffer  martyrdom  in  the  cause  of  his  country, 
of  freedom,  and  the  rights  of  man.  "May  God  bless 
you,  my  darling!"  he  wrote,  "and  grant  you  a  happy 
and  peaceful  life.  May  the  Good  Father  protect  you 
and  me,  and  grant  that  we  may  live  happily  together 
long  lives.  God  give  me  strength,  wisdom,  and 
couraa'c.  If  I  die,  let  me  die  as  a  brave  and  honor- 
able  man;  let  no  stain  of  dishonor  hang  over  me  or 
you.     Devotedly,  and  with  my  whole  heart's  love. 

Your  Husbaa^d." 

On  the  morning  after  the  battle  at  Big  Bethel,  or 
County  Creek  as  it  was  first  called,  and  before  intel- 
ligence had  reached  the  people  of  the  ^orth,  the 
father  of  the  gallant  Greble  left  Philadelphia  for  that 
post,  to  visit  his  son  and  convey  to  him  tokens  of 
affection  from  his  home.  He  was  accompanied  by 
his  patriotic  friend  Mr.  Dreer.  Just  as  they  were 
going  on  board  the  steamboat,  at  Baltimore,  that 
was  to  convey  them  to  Fortress  Monroe,  a  newspaper 
"  extra"  conveyed  to  them  the  sad  intelligence  of  the 
battle  and  the  death  of  the  loved  one.    The  blow  was 


a  terrible  one  for  the  father,  but  it  was  bravely  borne 
as  became  a  Christian  and  a  patriot  willing*  to  make  a 
holy  sacrifice  for  God  and  his  country.  With  a  sad 
heart  he  voyaged  down  the  Chesapeake  that  night; 
but  sweetly  was  his  smitten  spirit  soothed  on  his 
arrival  by  the  tokens  of  love  for  his  son  and  sympathy 
for  the  bereaved,  everywhere  manifested.  Mourning 
for  the  loss  of  the  young  hero  was  universal  and 
heartfelt.  All  that  brave  and  generous  men  could 
do  for  a  cherished  companion,  had  already  been  done 
in  honor  of  the  dead  and  in  preparations  for  the  con- 
veyance of  the  body  to  Philadelphia;  and  the  father 
had  only  to  take  his  place  in  the  funeral  procession 
as  chief  mourner,  without  the  burden  of  a  single  care 
as  to  details. 

On  Tuesday,  the  day  after  the  battle,  the  following 
record  was  made : — 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  army  at  Fort- 
ress Monroe,  Virginia,  on  the  11th  of  June,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  were  adopted  relative  to  the 
lamented  death  of  John  T.  Greble,  late  a  first-lieu- 
tenant of  the  Second  Kegiment  United  States  Artil- 
lery, who  was  killed  at  County  Creek,  near  this  post, 
on  the  10th  instant : — 

"  Hesolved,  That  the  heroic  death  of  this  gallant 
officer  fills  us  all  with  admiration  and  regret.  Stand- 
ing at  his  piece  in  the  open  road,  in  front  of  the 
enemy's  battery,  till  shot  down,  he  served  it  with  the 
greatest  coolness  and  most  undaunted  courage. 

"Hesolved,  That,  while  deploring  his  untimely  end, 
and  feeling  that  his  loss  to  his  country  is  great,  and 


72 

to  liis  family  and  friends  irreparahle,  still  a  death  so 
glorious  can  but  tend  to  lighten  the  burden  of  grief 
to  all. 

'''' Hesolved,  That,  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  deceased,  the  officers  of  the  army 
stationed  at  this  post  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourn- 
ing for  thirty  days. 

"  Hesolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tions be  furnished  to  his  family. 

"J.  DIMICK,  Colonel  U.  S.  ^." 

On  Wednesday  morning  the  following  order  was 
issued  : — 

"Order  "|  Head  Quarters,  Fort  Monroe, 

No.  110.  j  June  12,  1861. 

"  The  remains  of  First  Lieutenant  John  T.  Gre- 
ble,  Second  Artillery  (whose  gallant  conduct  in  the 
action  of  the  10th  instant  at  County  Creek,  is  so  well 
known),  will  be  conveyed  from  the  chapel  to  the 
Baltimore  boat  en  route  to  Philadelphia,  this  after- 
noon. 

"  The  funeral  service  will  take  place  in  the  chapel 
at  five  o'clock.  The  escort  will  be  detailed  from  the 
companies  of  the  Second  Artillery,  and  commanded 
by  First  Lieutenant  M.  P.  Small. 

"  The  troops  will  be  formed  at  quarter  before  five 
o'clock,  and  marched  to  the  vicinity  of  the  chapel. 
The  Post  Adjutant  will  be  charged  with  the  neces- 
sary arrangements  with  reference  to  the  formation  of 
the  escort  of  troops. 


73 

"The  following  officers  are  requested  to  act  as 
pall -bearers : — 

"  Lieutenant  Haines,  Second  Artillery. 
"  Morgan,  Third  Artillery. 

"  Lodor,  Fourth  Artillery. 

"  Baylor,  Ordnance  Department. 

"  Turner,  First  Artillery. 

"  Palfrey,  Engineers  Corp. 

"By  order  of  Colonel  Dimick. 

"THOMAS  J.  HAINES,  A(lj}ilanty 

On  the  same  day,  the  officers  of  some  of  the  vol- 
unteers at  JS'ewport-l^ewce  with  whom  Lieutenant 
Greble  spent  the  last  days  of  his  life,  and  by  whom 
he  was  beloved,  held  a  meeting,  the  record  of  which 
was  as  follows : — 

"  Camp  Butler,  Newpout-Newce, 
June  12.  ISni. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  Seventh 
Regiment,  ]N^ew  York  (Steuben)  Volunteers,  held 
this  day,  Colonel  John  E.  Bendix  presiding,  the 
following  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : — 

"  jResolvecl,  That  in  the  heroic  death  of  Lieutenant 
John  T.  Greble  of  the  Second  Regiment  United 
States  Artillery,  which  occurred  on  Monday  June 
10th,  near  Great  Bethel,  Virginia,  we  deeply  deplore 
a  great  loss  to  our  country,  and  a  sudden,  untimely 
period  to  a  life  of  great  promise  and  usefulness,  of 
which  his  brave  conduct  on  the  above  occasion  gave 
abundant  proof;    and    that    we   deeply    sympathize 

10 


with  the  family  of  the  deceased  in  their  bereave- 
ment. 

''Resolved,  That,  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  the  deceased,  the  officers  of  this  regiment 
will  wear  the  iisnal  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty 
days. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tions be  forwarded  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

"  Resolved,  That  these  proceedings  be  published  in 
the  ^ew  York  and  Philadelphia  newspapers. 

i'  _^ttest : 

LOUIS  SCHAFFNEK,  Secretanj:' 

The  body  was   laid  in  a  metallic  coffin,  in  full 
reo'imentals.     The  Avounded  head  was  encircled  by  a 
coronal  of  white  lilies,  fitting  emblems  of  the  purity 
Avhich  distinguished  the  character  of  the  departed 
spirit.    Over  the  coffin  was  thrown,  in  graceful  folds, 
the  national  flag,  the  symbol  of  his  country's  poAver 
and  authority,  in  support  of  Avhich  he  had  given  his 
young  life.     So  arrayed,  the  remains,  preceded  by  a 
guard  of  honor,  and  the  band  playing  the  solemn 
"Dead  March  in  Saul,"  were  conveyed  to  the  pleasant 
little  chapel  wdthin  the  fortress,  where  a  brief  and 
eloquent  discourse  was  delivered  by  the  chaplain  of 
the  ^ew  York  Zouave  Regiment,  and  the  beauti- 
ful and  impressive  funeral  service  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in   the   United  States   was  per- 
formed in  the  presence  of  the  entire  garrison,  officers 
and  private  soldiers,  and  the  officers  and  crew  of  the 
frigate  Cumberland,  then  lying  in  Hampton  Poads. 


75 

At  the  close  of  the  services  in  the  chajoel  the  pro- 
cession was  re-formed  and  followed  the  remains  to 
the  Baltimore  boat,  the  colors  of  which  were  at  half- 
mast.  The  body  was  conveyed  by  it  to  Baltimore, 
and  thence  to  Philadelphia,  by  railway,  where  the 
city  authorities  had  made  preliminary  preparations 
for  a  public  funeral,  and  the  citizens  were  eagerly 
awaiting  an  opportunity  to  look  upon  the  face  of  the 
slain  hero.  'No  demonstration  of  feeling  was  made 
at  the  railway  station,  on  the  arrival  of  the  coffin,  for 
it  was  yet  in  the  custody  of  bereaved  friends.  It 
was  wrapped  in  the  same  flag  that  had  covered  it  in 
the  chapel  at  Fortress  Monroe ;  and  it  was  quietly 
conveyed  to  the  parental  abode,  in  ]N^ineteenth  Street 
near  Rittenhouse  Square,  in  a  modest  hearse,  follow- 
ed by  the  father  and  a  few  friends,  and  some  officers 
from  Fortress  Monroe,  who  had  accompanied  the 
remains. 

The  precincts  of  a  domestic  circle  are  too  sacred 
for  the  intrusion  of  the  merely  curious  at  the  hour 
when  the  family  are,  or  should  be,  alone  with  the 
remains  of  the  departed  member ;  and  the  biograxjher 
has  no  right,  ordinarily,  to  trespass  upon  that  sanc- 
tity by  a  revelation  of  events  in  the  chamber  of 
mourning.  But  this  Memoir,  intended  for  those 
only  who  are  numbered  among  the  personal  friends 
of  the  family,  may  be  allowed  a  little  more  latitude 
than  if  it  were  to  be  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  the 
stranger-public.  So  I  will  venture  to  lift  the  veil 
a  little,  and  show  a  scene  most  touching  and  true  to 
nature,  when  the  lifeless  face  of  the  young  husband 


76 

and  son  was  first  seen  by  loving  eyes — a  face  serenely 
beautiful  and  benignant,  and  natural  in  expression. 
The  fair  young-  Avidow  Avas  the  first  to  look  upon  it. 
She  bore  her  babe  in  her  arms  as  she  stepped  noise- 
lessly to  the  cofiin.  The  pale  face — almost  as  pale 
as  the  coronal  of  lilies — seemed  to  be  only  in  a 
repose  that  might  be  disturbed  by  an  aflectionate 
kiss.  To  look  upon  it  in  its  beauty  Avas  a  precious 
boon  that  filled  the  mourner's  heart  Avith  gratitude. 
Softly  and  tearlessly,  Avith  her  soul  leaning  loAnngly 
upon  the  mercy  and  compassion  of  Christ,  she  knelt 
a  moment  by  the  side  of  the  cofiin,  and  then  arose 
Avith  a  strength  of  spirit  such  as  only  the  true 
Christian  can  feel.  Then  her  little  EdAAin,  only  tAvo 
years  old,  was  lifted  up  so  that  he,  too,  could  look 
upon  the  SAA^eet  face.  He  instantly  recognized  it, 
smiled,  and  AAdiispered  "Papa;"  and  Avith  a  sudden 
impulse  that  seemed  like  indignation,  he  almost 
sprang  out  of  the  arms  that  held  him,  and  loudly 
exclaimed,  "  Take  my  papa  out  of  that  box !" 

Father,  mother,  brother,  and  sisters  now  looked 
upon  the  sleeper's  face,  and  then  left  the  remains 
Avith  those  Avho  Avere  to  honor  them  Avith  funeral 
rites,  and  carry  them  to  the  populous  city  of  the 
dead. 

Preparations  Avere  made  for  an  expression  of  the 
public  feeling.  The  alumni  of  the  High  School 
made  arrangements  for  joining  in  a  funeral  proces- 
sion. The  city  authorities,  in  special  session,  after 
passing  a  series  of  resolutions  of  condolence  and  re- 
gret,  draAvn   up   by   Mr.    Simons,    of  the   Common 


77 

Council,  a  friend  of  the  deceased,  tendered  the  use 
of  Independence  Hall  for  public  obsequies.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  record  of  the  proceedings : — 


"[Seal  of  the     Mayor's  Approval,       "  Select  and  Common  Councils 

City  of 

riiiiadeiphia.]        June  13,  18G1.  of  the  City  of  Philadeh'hia, 

Alexander  Henky, 

Mayor  of  PhiladelpJiia. 

"  Resolutions  relative  to  the  death  of  Lieutenant 
JoHi^  T.  Gkeble  of  the  United  States  Army. 

"Whereas,  It  has  pleased  the  All-wise  Father 
to  permit  the  death,  on  the  battle-field,  of  our  accom- 
plished and  useful  fellow-citizen,  John^  T.  Greble, 
a  native  of  Philadelphia,  a  graduate  of  the  West 
Point  Military  Academy,  and  1st  Lieutenant  of  the 
Second  Kegiment  of  Artillery  of  the  United  States 
Army,  who,  in  the  vigor  and  with  the  fervor  of 
young  manhood,  engaged  in  the  stirring  services  of 
the  camp  and  field,  and,  standing  by  his  guns  to  the 
last,  fell  while  gallantly  fighting  for  our  national 
flag,  and  the  honor  and  life  of  our  country  against 
the  assaults  of  internal  foes  in  open  armed  rebellion 
— thus  offering  his  precious  life  a  sacrifice  upon  the 
altar  of  patriotism  in  the  great  struggle  for  the 
rio^hts  of  man — the  First  Martyr  from  the 
Banks  of  the  Officers  of  the  Eegular  Army  : 
Therefore, 

'^Hesolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Greble 
our  City  is  called  to  deplore  the  loss  of  a  most  worthy 
citizen,  our  Country  one  of  her  noblest  defenders,  the 


78 

Family  Circle  an  honorable  son,  an  aifectionate  hns- 
band  and  father,  and  his  Companions  in  Arms  a  be- 
loved officer. 

^^ Hesolved,  That  the  Select  and  Common  Councils 
do  mourn  his  death  as  a  loss  to  our  City,  State,  and 
Country;  and  while  we  deeply  sympathize  with  his 
beloved  family  in  their  bereavement,  and  tender  them 
our  heartfelt  condolence,  we  rejoice  to  know  that  his 
memory  will  be  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful 
people  as  one  among  the  first  sacrifices  in  the  sup- 
pression of  an  unholy  Rebellion. 

'"'Hesolved,  That  the  Select  and  Common  Councils 
attend  his  funeral,  and  that  these  resolutions  be 
transmitted  to  the  family,  and  they  be  solicited  to 
have  his  remains  placed  in  Independence  Hall,  upon 
the  day  of  the  obsequies,  that  our  citizens  may  have 
an  ample  opportunity  of  paying  a  last  tribute  to  the 
honored  and  lamented  deceased;  and  that  a  Commit- 
tee of  three  be  appointed  from  each  Chamber  to  carry 
out  the  object  of  this  resolution. 

"CHARLES  B.  TREGO, 

^'■President  of  Common  Council. 

"THEODORE  CUYLER, 

^'•President  of  Select  Council. 

"Attest: 

"GEORGE  F.  GORDON, 

^'' Clerk  of  Common  Council. 

"  Committee  of  Common  Couxcil.  Committee  of  Select  Council. 
George  W.  Simons,  Daniel  M.  Fox, 

William  Stokes,  Stephen  Benton, 

Wilson  Kerr.  John  P.  Wetherill." 


79 

The  wishes  of  the  city  authorities  and  of  the  peo- 
ple were  complied  with,  and  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  observance  of  the  funeral  rites  on  Friday  the 
fourteenth  day  of  June.  In  the  morning  of  that  day 
— a  pleasant  summer  morning — the  tolling  of  bells 
and  the  booming  of  minute  guns  spread  a  feeling  of 
solemnity  over  the  city,  and  thousands  of  flags  un- 
furled at  half  mast  from  public  buildings  and  private 
dAvellings  attested  the  respect  universally  felt  for  the 
character  of  the  deceased.  And  at  a  later  hour  the 
places  of  business  in  all  the  principal  streets  were 
closed,  and  the  day  was  devoted  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Philadelphia  to  the  rendering  of  homage  to  a  be- 
loved citizen  and  gallant  soldier. 

At  the  family  mansion  the  friends  of  the  deceased 
were  assembled  at  an  early  hour  in  the  forenoon  of 
Thursday,  and  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  impressive 
funeral  services  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  French,  of  West  Point,  and  the  fol- 
lowing touching  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brainerd 
of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia : — 

"Before  the  place  wdiich  has  known  our  young 
friend  here,  shall  know  him  no  more  forever,  I  cainiot 
refrain  from  expressing  the  feelings  of  my  heart,  in 
view  of  his  worth  and  his  loss.  I  have  known  him 
from  childhood,  and  during  all  his  life  I  have  regard- 
ed him  with  complacency  and  approbation.  Few 
have  passed  to  the  grave  whose  whole  life  could  bet- 
ter bear  inspection,  or  who  presented  fewer  defects 
over  which  we  have  need  to  throw  the  mantle  of 


80 

charity.  In  his  family  circle;  in  the  Sabbath  school ; 
in  the  High  school,  where  he  graduated;  as  a  Cadet 
at  West  Point,  and  as  an  officer  in  the  service  of  his 
country ;  up  to  the  very  hour  when  he  bravely  fell,  he 
has  exhibited  a  life  marked  by  the  purest  principles, 
and  the  most  guarded  and  exemplary  deportment. 
In  his  nature  he  was  modest,  retiring,  gentle,  of  al- 
most feminine  delicacy;  careful  to  avoid  wounding 
the  feelings  of  any;  and  considerate  of  every  obliga- 
tion to  all  around  him.  Indeed,  such  was  his  amia- 
bility, modesty,  and  delicacy  of  temperament,  that 
we  might  almost  have  questioned  the  existence  in 
him  of  the  sterner  virtues,  had  not  his  true  and  un- 
shrinking courage,  in  the  hour  of  danger,  stamped 
him  with  a  heroic  manliness.  In  this  view  of  quali- 
ties, seemingly  antithetical,  we  discover  that  beautiful 
symmetry  in  his  character,  which  marks  him  as  a 
model  man  of  his  class. 

"Judging  him  by  his  life,  we  may  infer  that  an  out- 
ward conduct  so  exemplary,  had  its  fountain  in  reli- 
gious faith  and  the  fear  of  God;  and  this  inference  is 
sustained  by  the  foct,  that  daily,  before  retiring  to 
rest,  he  was  accustomed  to  kneel  at  his  bedside  in 
prayer  to  the  Author  of  his  being.  We  may  hope  it 
is  well  with  him;  and  that  the  excellencies  of  life  and 
character  which  so  endeared  him  to  his  friends,  and 
made  him  so  valuable  to  his  country,  have  reached  a 
field  of  full  appreciation  and  perfect  development. 

"He  seems  to  have  been  not  without  foreboding  of 
the  fate  which  awaited  him.  Before  he  entered  the 
battle-field,  he  traced  in  pencil  on  paper,  words  of 


81 

love  for  his  cherished  wife — of  care  for  his  now 
ori^hau  children — of  aifection  for  his  parents  and 
friends — and  of  trust  in  Almiohty  God.  This  gives 
value  to  his  manly  daring,  showing  that  it  was  no 
bloodthirsty  impulse  or  reckless  presumption;  but  a 
perilous  service  at  the  call  of  duty  and  his  country's 
need.  This  view  sanctifies  his  martyrdom.  It  car- 
ries him  to  the  field  of  battle  with  no  loss  of  his  gen- 
tleness, amiability,  and  benevolence;  but  wrought  to 
a  high  enthusiasm,  and  a  calm  and  tranquil  courage, 
by  a  real  love  of  country  and  of  mankind.  Great  in- 
terests have  had  noble  martyi-s.  Stephen  fell  under 
the  murderous  hail  of  stones,  at  the  outset  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  when  his  life  seemed  most  precious  to 
those  who  made  great  lamentation  over  him :  so  this 
young  man  has  fallen  in  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
flict, to  preserve  this  Western  Continent — this  noble 
country;  our  Constitution,  our  order,  our  prosperity; 
the  liberty  of  the  masses  of  men  everywhere,  from 
treason,  anarchy,  aristocratic  oppression,  and  final 
ruin.  We  can  safely  say,  the  cause  was  worthy  of 
the  martyr.  It  is  a  high  eulogy  to  imply  that  the 
martyr  was  w^orthy  of  such  a  cause.  He  died  that 
his  country  might  not  die.  He  died  that  the  great 
experiment  of  self-government  in  this  land — which 
has  made  man  everywhere  feel  that  he  was  truly  a 
man — might  not  fail,  to  the  despair  of  humanity  it- 
self in  all  time  to  come.  In  his  case,  as  in  another, 
it  may  have  been  'expedient  that  one  man  should  die, 
that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.'     General  Des  Saix, 

on  the  field  of  Marengo,  lamented  in  dying  that  he 
11 


82 

had  but  one  life  to  give  for  the  glory  of  France. 
Lieut.  Greble,  dying  in  a  conflict  with  traitors,  might 
have  lamented  that  he  had  but  one  life  to  give  for 
such  a  constitution  and  such  a  country. 

"I  knoAV  that  his  friends  are  now  inconsolable  for 
his  loss.  I  know  that  no  public  considerations  can 
stanch  the  wounds  of  their  bleeding  hearts.  But  to 
the  circle  that  loved  him,  it  must  be  grateful  to  know 
that  in  his  first  conflict  he  gained  a  meed  which  thou- 
sands might  envy;  that  by  persevering  and  martyr 
bravery,  in  circumstances  of  trial  and  abandonment, 
he  has  written  his  name  where  neither  his  country 
nor  humanity  will  ever  allow  it  to  be  eflaced. 
Wherever  the  history  of  this  great  conflict  shall  go, 
in  ages  yet  to  come,  and  in  generations  yet  unborn, 
'this  that  he  hath  done  shall  be  told  for  a  memorial 
of  him.' 

"To  this  bereaved  circle  we  would  say,  that  our 
young  friend  has  only  met  the  destiny  of  a  wise, 
providential  appointment,  as  to  the  time  and  mode 
of  his  death.  His  life,  though  brief,  has  been  com- 
plete, if  in  any  degree  he  has  imitated  the  Blessed 
One,  who  said,  at  a  little  over  thirty  years  of  age,  in 
doing  and  in  bearing-:  'I  have  finished  the  Avork  thou 
gavest  me  to  do.'  This  is  now  a  house  of  mourning, 
clouded  Avith  sorrow;  but  over  this  weeping  circle  is 
the  rainbow  of  the  covenant.  '  All  things  work  to- 
gether for  good,  to  them  that  love  God.' " 

Then  the  remains  Avere  surrendered  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Councils,  and  at  midday  they  Avere  con- 


83 

veyed  to  the  State  House,  in  an  elegant  plumed 
hearse,  preceded  by  an  escort  of  city  dignitaries. 
The  coffin,  still  wrapped  in  the  national  flag,  was 
placed  in  the  centre  of  Independence  Hall,  upon  a 
bier  covered  with  black  velvet — the  same  bier  upon 
which  had  rested  the  remains  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Henry  Clay,  and  Dr.  Kane.  Upon  the  coffin-lid 
were  laid  the  sword  and  military  hat  of  the  dead 
soldier,  and  at  its  head  was  a  photographic  likeness 
of  him,  encircled  with  ivy,  the  emblem  of  Friendship. 
Wreaths  of  fair  and  fragrant  flowers,  arranged  by  the 
hands  of  sympathizing  women,  were  there  in  abund- 
ance. From  some  of  these,  long  white  ribbons  were 
dependent,  on  which  was  the  word  Pueitt. 

That  Hall,  clustered  with  patriotic  associations, 
was  a  fitting  place  for  the  body  of  the  young  martyr 
to  lie  in  state.  The  walls  were  hung  with  portraits 
of  many  of  the  founders  of  the  republic,  for  whose 
preservation  he  had  freely  given  his  life.  In  that 
room  the  representatives  of  a  free  people  declared 
and  signed  a  written  Declaration  that  thirteen  Ameri- 
can Colonies  were  free  and  independent  States,  and 
boldly  asserted  the  seminal  principle  upon  which 
rest  the  dearest  rights  of  man,  that  ''all  men  are 
created  equal" — a  principle  against  which  conspira- 
tors were  then  waging  a  cruel  war,  with  the  strength 
of  a  deceived  and  injured  people  whom  they  con- 
trolled. In  that  room  was  the  old  State  House  bell, 
with  its  inscription — "Proclaim  Liberty  unto  the 
Land  and  to  the  Inhabitants  thereof" — which  pealed 
out  the  joyous  announcement  that  the  resolution  for 


84 

and  declaration  of  independence  had  been  adopted  by 
the  Continental  Congress ;  and  aronnd  it  were  many 
relics  associated  with  the  stormy  period  in  onr  his- 
tory when  the  rights  of  the  people  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  privileges  of  "  Life,  Liberty,  and  the  pnrsnit  of 
Happiness,"  were  nobly  and  snccessfully  contended 
for — ^iDrivileges,  for  the  perpetnation  of  which  the 
young  patriot  had  fought  and  died. 

When  the  doors  of  the  State  House  and  of  Inde- 
pendence Hall  Avere  opened,  a  vast  stream  of  citizens 
which  had  been  for  hours  pent  up  in  the  streets, 
flowed  in.  The  peoj^le  hoped  to  see  the  face  of  the 
beloved  young  man.  That  privilege  could  not  be 
granted ;  but  from  the  fine  likeness  of  him  at  the 
head  of  the  coffin,  each  bore  away  a  pleasing  impres- 
sion of  his  features,  and  was  satisfied.  So  deep  was 
the  feeling  that  many  a  lip  kissed  the  mute  likeness, 
and  many  a  tear  moistened  the  sweet  flowers.  It 
was  a  recognition  of  greatness  and  goodness,  spon- 
taneously offered  by  a  grateful  people,  which  the 
proudest  potentate  of  earth  might  covet. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  hour  ap- 
pointed for  the  funeral  procession  to  move  from  the 
State  House  to  the  cemetery,  full  ten  thousand  people 
had  passed  in  and  out  of  the  hall,  and  thousands 
more  w^ere  eagerly  x^ressing  toward  it.  The  doors 
were  then  closed,  and  the  coffin  was  carried  to  the 
hearse  in  waiting.  As  it  passed  out  the  troops  com- 
posing the  guard  of  honor,  formed  in  double  line 
from  the  door,  presented  arms.  Then  the  procession 
moved  in  the  following  order  : — 


85 

Reserve  Corps  of  Police,  fifteen  abreast. 

Colonel  William  F.  Small  and  Adjutant. 

Beck's  Philadelphia  TJrass  and  Clarionet  Band,  thirty  pieces. 

Regimental  Corps  of  Sixteen  Drummers. 

Colonel  Small's  Regiment,  fully  armed,  and  marching  in  regular 

platoons. 
Company  C  carr^'ing  the  National  Flag  drooped  with  black 

Crape. 
The  Siiarp's  Rifle  Guards,  Captain  Alexander,  the  rifles  reversed. 
First  platoon  of  the  Union  Artillery. 
The  Hearse. 
Distinguished  officers  of  the  Army  and  Xavy  acting  as  Pall- 
beai'ers*  and  a  Guard  of  Honor. 
Officers  of  the  Gray  Reserve  Regiment  in  full  uniform. 
Second  platoon  of  the  Union  Artillery. 
Company  of  the  Central  High  School  Cadets  of  Philadelphia 
carrying  a  flag  festooned  with  crape. 
Carriages  containing  the  Mayor  and  City  Authorities,  Judges, 
Members  of   Congress,  and  numerous  distinguished  citizens, 
among  whom  were  many  High  School  Alumni,  followed  by  a 
large  concourse  of  people. 

The  procession  moved  from  the  State  House  down 
Fourth  Street  to  Wahiut,  and  through  Wahiut  to 
JN^ineteeth  Street,  in  which  is  the  dwelling  of  Mr. 
Greble.  There  it  was  joined  by  a  large  number  of 
carriages  containing  the  family  and  friends  of  the 
deceased.  These  took  a  place  in  the  line  immedi- 
ately behind  the  guard  of  honor  which  followed  the 
hearse.     To  the  sweet,  slow  music  of  the  band  play- 

*  The  following  officers  were  the  appointed  pall-bearers :  Lieutenant 
Thomas,  U.  S.  N.  ;  Lieutenant  Pierce,  U.  S.  A. ;  J.  O.  Burnet,  Surgeon 
U.  S.  N.  ;  Lieutenant  Van  Cleve,  U.  S.  A.  ;  Major  Mareton,  U.  S.  M.  ;  and 
Major  Rufl;  U.  S.  A. 


86 

ing  "The  Dead  March  in  Sanl,"  and  the  solemn  beat- 
ing- of  mnffled  drnms,  the  procession  then  moved  ont 
to  West  Philadelphia,  and  along  the  Darby  Road  to 
the  beautiful,  quiet  Woodlands  Cemetery  far  outside 
of  the  noisy  city;  while  at  points  on  the  way  the 
people  stood  in  crowds,  and  many  uncovered  their 
heads  in  reverence  for  the  first  Pennsylvania  officer 
who  had  fallen  in  the  strife.  In  the  burial-ground 
of  the  Greble  fiimily  in  the  Woodlands  the  remains 
of  that  noble  scion  were  laid.  At  the  vault  in  which 
they  were  first  deposited  the  burial  service  was  read 
by  Doctor  French,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  the 
body  was  committed  to  the  grave,  which,  to  him,  as 
recorded  in  his  note-book,  had  "  seemed,  in  summer, 
but  an  opening  in  the  ground  in  which  we  are  to 
plant  seed  that,  in  time,  will  ripen  into  plants  more 
beautiful  than  the  tall  trees  and  rich  flowers  around 
us."  After  the  words  "  dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes," 
were  spoken  at  the  vault,  and  some  earth  was  cast 
upon  the  cofiin,  the  usual  military  salute  was  fired. 

So  closed  the  last  sad  rites  in  honor  of  the  mortal 
remains  of  a  beatified  spirit  whose  earthly  character 
and  deeds  have  left  an  impression  that  will  be  a  per- 
petual blessing  to  his  country  and  to  mankind.  In 
his  daily  life  he  had  been  a  bright  example  of  a  good 
son,  a  good  husband,  and  a  good  citizen ;  and  his 
almost  dying  words  "  I  never  dodge  !"  make  as 
noble  a  motto  for  a  soldier  as  ever  was  emblazoned 
on  the  arms  of  the  most  courtly  and  gallant  knight 
renowned  in  history.  They  were  Avorthy  of  a  Bayard 
or  a  Sidney  ;  and  they  will  be  resounded  by  the  lips 


87 

of  every  true  soldier  through  all  the  future,  until 
Peace  on  Earth,  Good  Will  to  Men  shall  every- 
where govern  the  actions  of  God's  intelligent  crea- 
tures as  worthy  followers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

The  death  of  Lieutenant  Greble  produced  a  pro- 
found sensation  throughout  the  country,  and  pen  and 
tongue  hastened  to  express  the  emotions  of  the  people 
— emotions  first  of  indignation,  and  then  of  sorrow 
and  admiration.  "The  people  demand  a  deep  and 
satisfactory  vengeance,"  said  a  Philadelphia  journal 
on  the  morning  after  the  funeral,  and  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers  will  fight  with  a  new  vigor  when 
they  remember  the  gallant  Greble."  But  a  spirit 
worthier  of  a  Christian  people  soon  prevailed,  and 
monodies  and  eulogies  in  verse  and  prose  burdened 
the  press.  There  came  to  be  a  universal  feeling  of 
admiration  for  his  bravery  and  love  for  his  virtues ; 
and  the  words  of  Halleck,  uttered  long  years  before 
respecting  another  noble  soul,  might  noAv  be  spoken 
of  the  martyred  Greble : — 

"He  has  been  mourned  as  brave  men  mourn  the  brave, 
And  wept  as  nations  weep  their  cherished  dead, 
With  bitter  but  proud  tears  ;  and  o'er  his  head 
The  eternal  flowers  whose  root  is  in  the  grave — 
The  flowers  of  Fame — are  beautiful  and  grocn  ; 
And  by  his  grave's  side  pilgrims'  feet  have  been  ; 
And  blessings  pure  as  men  to  martyr's  gave 
Have  there  been  breathed  by  those  he  died  to  save. 

Pride  of  his  country's  banded  chivalry, 

His  fame  their  hope,  his  name  their  battle-cry  ; 

He  lived  as  mothers  wish  their  sons  to  live — 
He  died  as  fathers  wish  their  sous  to  die." 


88 

Lieutenant  Greble's  companions-in-arms  were  es- 
pecially eloquent  in  words  of  love  and  admiration. 
One  of  these,  Lieutenant  R.  Lodor  of  the  artillery,  in 
a  familiar  letter  to  a  friend  in  Philadelphia,  written 
at  Fortress  Monroe  just  after  the  battle,  said :  "  Just 
think  of  poor  John  Greble's  death!  Was  it  not 
awful,  Bill?  He  was  a  noble  man;  one  of  the  kind 
you  don't  often  meet  in  this  world ;  modest — particu- 
larly so — unassuming,  retiring,  a  perfect  disposition, 
and,  withal,  as  brave  as  a  lion.  O  !  I  tell  you  it  was 
grand  the  way  he  stood  there  and  took  the  fire  of 
the  whole  battery,  and  just  as  cool  and  quiet  as  at  a 
drill.  The  volunteer  ofl&cers  can't  praise  him  enough. 
They  think  him  a  brave  of  the  first  order." 

Lieutenant  Kingsbury  (afterward  killed  in  the 
war)  wrote  to  Mrs.  Greble  a  few  days  after  the  fune- 
ral, and  said  that  the  day  before  the  young  hero  left 
I^ewport-N^ewce,  he  seemed  a  little  feverish.  "I 
attributed  it,"  Kingsbury  said,  "to  his  constant 
watchfulness,  for  no  one  could  have  been  more  vigi- 
lant than  himself.  The  whole  body  of  volunteers, 
who  were  there,  looked  to  him  and  his  little  com- 
mand as  their  chief  reliance  in  the  hour  of  necessity. 

"  It  will,  I  know,  be  among  your  pleasantest  recol- 
lections to  be  assured  that  scarcely  an  hour  of  the 
day  passed  that  your  husband  did  not  make  some 
remark  to  me  which  betokened  his  love  for  his  wife 
and  his  babies.  The  letters  he  received  from  you 
Avere  read  and  re-read,  and  from  them  he  read  to  me, 
with  a  father's  delight,  the  prattle  of  his  little  son. 
The   morning  before  I  left,   I  entered  his  tent  and 


89 

found  him  reading  his  Bible.      Then,  again  he  ex- 
pressed his  desire  to  see  you  and  his  children." 

From  many  others,  the  stricken  wife  received  the 
kindest  assurances  of  sympathy  in  her  bereavement 
and  loss,  and  reverence  for  her  departed  husband. 
In  these  assurances,  his  parents  participated.  To 
Mr.  Greble,  Robert  Dale  Owen  wrote  from  "Wash- 
ington city  in  August  following,  inquiring,  "Did 
you  communicate  to  your  daughter-in-law  what  the 
President  said  to  me  in  regard  to  her  husband? 
namely,  that  of  all  those  who  had  fallen,  or  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  present  contest,  it 
was  his  deliberate  judgment  that  not  one  had  acted 
so  heroically  nor  deserved  so  well  of  his  country,  as 
Lieutenant  Greble." 

Colonel  Williams,  who,  as  brigadier-general,  was 
killed  in  a  battle  at  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  writing 
to  his  wife  in  September  from  Harrisburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania, said,  "I  have  established  a  camp  of  instruc- 
tion here,  and  called  it  "  Camp  Greble"  in  honor  of 
our  gallant  friend,  who  fell  at  Bethel."  And  one 
of  the  grand  line  of  forts  that  almost  circumvallated 
Washington  city,  early  in  the  second  year  of  the  war, 
and  stood  upon  a  commanding  position  on  the  Mary- 
land side  of  the  Potomac  below  the  ISTavy  Yard,  was 
named  "  Fort  Greble." 

Four  months  after  his  death,  a  fine  j^ortrait  of 
Lieutenant  Greble,  painted  by  a  distinguished  artist 
of  Philadelphia,  was  placed  among  those  of  other 
men  of  renown,  in  Independence  Hall,   by  order  of 

12 


90 

the   authorities   of  that   city,   under   circumstances 
Avhich  the  subjoined  correspondence  will  explain : — 

"  PniLADELrniA,  October,  1861. 

"  Theodore  Cutler,  Esq., 

President  of  Select  Goiincil,  City  of  Plnladelphia. 

"Dear  Sir:  Through  your  courtesy  I  have  the 
honor  to  transmit  herewith,  to  the  Select  Council, 
for  a  place  in  Independence  Hall,  my  portrait  of  the 
late  Lieutenant  John  T.  Greble,  who  so  nobly  dis- 
tinguished himself,  and  fell  one  of  the  earliest  sacri- 
fices in  defence  of  his  country,  in  her  hour  of  peril, 
at  the  battle  of  Great  Bethel,  "Virginia,  June  10, 
1861.  I  ask  their  acceptance  of  this  offering,  com- 
memorative of  an  illustrious  fellow-citizen,  known  to 
be  as  eminent  for  high  moral  excellence  as  for  the 
cool  and  efhcient  intrepidity  displayed  by  him  on  a 
bloody  field. 

"This  portrait  was  executed,  and  is  presented  with 
the  idea,  that  works  of  the  kind  now,  as  in  ancient 
times,  operate  on  warm  and  generous  minds,  not  only 
in  some  sense  as  rewards  for,  but  as  incentives  to 
virtue  and  heroism. 

"If  this,  dear  sir,  be  no  mistaken  sentiment,  the 
donor,  in  the  approval  and  reception  of  this  picture 
by  the  Council,  for  the  place  and  purposes  intended, 
will  feel  himself  amj^ly  repaid  for  whatever  exertions 
on  his  part  it  may  have  called  forth. 

"  With  consideration  of  high  respect  and  regard, 

E.  D.  MARCHANT." 


91 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  city  legislature,  the 
following  resolutions  were  adopted : — 

^'  Besolved,  hy  the  Select  and  Common  Councils  of 
the  City  of  Philadelphia,  That  the  thanks  of  the  City 
of  Philadelphia  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  tendered 
to  E.  D.  Marchant,  Esq.,  for  his  generous  gift  of  the 
accurate  and  beautifully  executed  portrait  of  the  late 
Lieutenant  John  T.  Greble,  a  native  of  this  city, 
who  was  the  first  martyr,  of  his  official  grade,  in  the 
regular  army,  who  has  fallen  in  the  present  great 
struggle  for  our  ]^ational  existence. 

''  Resolved,  That  the  Commissioner  of  City  Pro- 
perty be  and  he  is  hereby  instructed  to  place  the 
same  in  Independence  Hall." 

The  following  letter  to  the  artist,  from  Mr.  Greble, 
attests  the  fidelity  of  the  picture  : — 

"E.  D.  Marchant,  Esq.: — 

"  Deak  Sir  :  Permit  me  to  express  my  gratitude 
for  3^our  liberal  gift  to  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  of 
the  portrait  of  my  son,  Lieut.  John  T.  Greble,  U.  S.  A., 
who  fell  in  the  disastrous  advance  on  Great  Bethel. 

"When  you  expressed  the  wish  to  paint  his  portrait 
for  that  purpose,  I  judged,  from  your  high  reputa- 
tion as  an  artist,  that  a  likeness  would  be  produced : 
when  I  saw  the  portrait  finished,  I  was  surprised  at 
its  accuracy.  Had  the  living  man  been  before  you, 
I  do  not  think  you  could  have  transferred  his  features 
and  expression  with  greater  fidelity.  Of  this  opinion 
1  have  not  heard  a  dissenting  voice. 

'  lie  being  dead  yet  ou  the  canvas  livetli.' 


92 

"As  a  work  of  art  I  judge  it  to  be  worthy  of  your 
skill.  Some  of  my  friends,  Avho  are  capable  of  judg- 
ing, pronounce  it  to  be  such. 

"  Accept  my  thanks,  my  dear  sir,  for  the  deep  feel- 
ing which  you  have  displayed  in  this,  my  bereave- 
ment, and  believe  me  to  be, 

"  With  much  respect, 

"Yours,  very  truly, 

EDWIN  GREBLE. 

"Philadelphia,  October  22,  1861." 

In  the  Tillage  of  Hampton,  Virginia,  near  Fortress 
Monroe,  a  society  of  the  benevolent  order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows named  their  association,  in  honor  of  the  fallen 
soldier,  "  Greble  Lodge."  It  is  jSTo.  137  among 
the  lodges  of  Virginia.  Its  seal  bears  an  engraved 
portrait  of  young  Greble. 

In  Philadelphia,  a  section  of  an  association  called 
the  "  Order  of  United  American  Mechanics,"  evinced 
their  respect  for  his  memory,  and  for  his  family,  by 
entitling  their  new  organization,  perfected  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1867,  "  Greble  Council,  ]S'o.  103,  O.  U.  A.  M.," 
and  electing  the  father  of  Lieutenant  Greble  an  hon- 
orary member  of  the  Council. 

The  crowning  honor  of  the  many  conferred  after 
the  death  of  the  hero,  was  awarded  by  Mr.  Stanton, 
the  eminent  Secretaiy  of  War,  with  the  sanction  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  given  by  unanimous 
vote.  It  was  in  the  form  of  the  following  letter  to 
the  father  of  Lieutenant  Greble,  inclosing  three 
commissions  named  in  it : — 


93 

"War  Department, 
Washington  City,  July  31,  18G7. 

"  Dear  Sir  : — 

"  I  have  the  x^leasnre  of  inclosing  to  you  the  com- 
missions of  Brevet  Captain,  Major,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  conferred  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  your 
son,  John  T.  Greble,  the  first  ofiicer  of  the  regular 
army  who  perished  in  the  war  for  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion.  His  distinguished  character,  his  gal- 
lant conduct  on  the  field  w^hen  he  fell,  and  his  devoted 
sacrifice  to  the  cause  of  his  country,  Avill  make  his 
name  and  memory  illustrious. 

"  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secr'tj  of  War. 
"  Hon'ble  Edwin  Greble,  Philadelphia^  Pa.^^ 

These  brevet  commissions,  passed  upon  by  the 
Senate  six  months  before  they  were  issued,  were 
given,  as  each  expresses  it,  "for  conspicuous  gal- 
lantry, and  meritorious  conduct  in  the  Battle  of  Big 
Bethel,  in  Virginia,"  and  all  bear  the  same  date. 
"  This,"  said  the  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger.,  "  is  no 
formal  compliment,  for  those  familiar  with  the  events 
of  that  battle  know  right  Avell  that  it  was  the  con- 
spicuous gallantry  of  this  young  Philadelphia  ofiicer 
that  saved  our  army  there  from  a  defeat  much  more 
disastrous  than  actually  occurred.  After  the  retreat 
of  our  troops  had  become  general,  he  kept  his  gun  in 
a  commanding  position  in  the  road,  holding  at  bay 
the  advancing  rebels,  and  maintained  it  there  until 


94 

nearly  his  whole  force  of  gunners  had  been  killed  or 
crippled,  and  fought  it  gallantly  with  his  own  hands, 
amidst  showers  of  shell  and  grape,  until  he  was 
killed.  The  records  of  the  war  present  no  more 
striking  example  of  true  courage  and  faithful  devo- 
tion to  duty  than  was  displayed  by  young  Greble  on 
that  occasion.  The  memory  of  this  still  lives,  and 
we  make  use  of  the  occasion  afforded  by  these  post- 
humous honors  to  direct  attention  to  the  point  that 
such  courage  and  such  unswerving  discharge  of 
duty  to  one's  country  are  always  cherished  in  the 
memories  of  the  people." 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Greble  was  about  five  feet 
seven  inches  in  height,  compactly  built,  and  when  in 
full  health  weighed  about  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
pounds.  He  was  erect  and  soldierly  in  carriage,  and 
easy  yet  dignified  in  de^^ortment.  His  voice  was 
pleasant  and  always  kindly  in  tone.  His  complex- 
ion was  rather  pale.  His  hair  was  a  very  dark 
brown.  His  eyes  were  a  dark  blue,  and  rather  deeply 
set,  with  long,  dark,  silky  lashes,  from  under  which 
ever  beamed  a  sweet  benignity  of  expression  that 
revealed  a  pure  and  exalted  soul. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  Memoir  than  by  the  in- 
troduction of  the  subjoined  letter,  written  to  me  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Greble's  classmate  and  friend, 
Major-General  O.  O.  Howard,  whose  bravery,  patriot- 
ism, fidelity  and  goodness  made  him  a  conspicuous 
and  salutary  example  for  our  young  men  during 
the  whole  struggle  of  Right  and  Freedom  against 
Wrong    and    Oppression,    for   nine   years   from   the 


95 

booming  of  the  first  gun  against  Fort  Sumter  until 
the  passage  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  of  the 
^N^ational  Constitution. 

"  PniLADELPniA,  April  17,  1870. 
"  Mr.  Benson  J.  Lossino. 

"  My  Dear  Sir  :  I  came  to  this  phxce  to  speak  to 
the  Sunday  school  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
in  which  Mrs.  Greble  is  very  earnestly  engaged;  and 
finding  a  few  moments  of  quiet  this  evening,  which  I 
seldom  find  at  Washington,  I  told  my  good  friend, 
Mr.  Edwin  Greble,  that  I  would  fulfil  a  promise  I 
made  him  some  time  ago,  i.  e.,  write  some  of  my  re- 
collections of  his  son  (my  classmate),  who  lost  his 
precious  life  so  early  in  our  late  struggle  for  the  pre- 
servation of  our  national  existence. 

"In  September,  1850,  I  joined  the  West  Point 
class  of  'new  cadets;'  and  amongst  my  early  ac- 
quaintances was  Cadet  John  T.  Greble,  who  had 
preceded  me  at  the  Academy  by  the  space  of  the 
summer  encampment.  My  earliest  impressions  of 
him  were  from  noticing  an  odd  fi'iendship  between 
him  and  Cadet  Wade,  of  Tennessee  (our  classmate), 
who  died  of  disease  before  the  war — odd,  because 
Wade  was  large,  rough,  and  boisterous  in  manner, 
frank  and  generous  withal,  and  quite  mature  already. 
He  was  named  by  the  cadets  '  Babe  Wade,'  on  the 
principle  that  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  another  classmate,  was 
called  '  Beauty  Stuart.'  On  the  other  hand,  Greble 
was  sensitive  and  retiring,  quite  young,  and  a  head 
shorter,  and  much  smaller  every  way,  than  Wade, 


96 

though   closely  knit   and   presenting   always,  what 
cadets  prize  highly,  'a  perfect  military  figure.' 

"These  two  walked  together  during  recreative 
hours  almost  daily.  Just  after  supper,  I  have  often 
heard,  in  the  rear  yard,  the  clear  sharp  voice  of  'Babe 
"Wade'  calling  'OA,  Greble,'  or  'Mag.,'  lengthening 
the  'Oh,'  and  mispronouncing  his  name  by  long  e  in- 
stead of  short  e.  The  '  Mag.,'  I  supposed,  proceeded 
from  the  habit  of  cadets  supplying,  in  a  queer  way, 
the  want  of  ladies'  society,  by  naming  and  calling 
each  other  by  some  feminine  sobriquet,*  'Betsy 
Baker,'  'Susan  Woods,'  and  the  like.  'Susan'  is  six 
feet  tall,  and  weighs  upwards  of  tAvo  hundred  pounds. 
The  sobriquets  are  no  means  of  judging  of  appearance, 
for  they  are  as  often  given  in  contrast  as  for  positive 
elements  or  characteristics.  The  friendship  betAveen 
these  young  men — these  opposites — was  genuine, 
sincere,  and  continued  till  death,  and,  I  hope,  is  still 
as  real  and  brightening  in  their  present  happier  home. 

"I  had  many  conversations  with  Cadet  Greble  at 
the  beginning,  and  we  became  sufficiently  familiar 
for  me  to  call  him  'John,'  and  he  to  address  me  as 
'Sep.'  (having  been  fledged  as  a  cadet  in  Septem- 
ber) ;  but  I  knew  him  better  after  a  visit,  during  our 
next  encampment,  from  his  father,  mother,  and  sis- 
ter, to  all  of  whom  he  was  devotedly  attached.  Fa- 
thers and  mothers  usually  love  their  children,  but  the 
children's  return  of  affection  often  lacks  intensity. 
But  not  so  with  John. 

*  Lieutenant  Greble  was  called  "Mag."  because  of  a  qnalitj-  universally 
attributed  to  him.     It  was  an  abbreviation  of  "magnanimous." 


97 

""We  had  much  time  dnring  this  visit  to  walk  and 
talk.  I  enjoyed,  exceedingly,  that  encampment. 
There  was  to  me  a  freshness,  a  frankness,  a  quick 
confidence  in  this  Philadelphia  family  that  won  me; 
and  I  have  never  ceased  to  enjoy  the  unfailing  kind- 
ness and  hospitality  extended  to  me  at  his  father's 
house,  at  all  times,  when  I  approach  Philadelphia. 

"  We  continued  our  friendship  without  any  inter- 
mission. Once,  when  I  lost  caste  with  my  mates, 
because  of  my  'abolition  sentiments,'  and  some  slan- 
der was  diligently  propagated  by  an  enemy,  John 
never  joined  my  accusers;  and  I  remember  that  he 
always  received  me  at  his  room  with  apparent  joy. 

"  The  West  Point  life  embraces  recitations,  horse- 
riding,  drills,  and  out-door  and  in-door  instruction. 
Sometimes  John  and  I  were  in  the  same  section  of 
the  class  and  sometimes  not,  but  our  intercourse  was 
daily  and  familiar.  Though  he  often  told  me  of  his 
home  and  friends,  of  his  earlier  school-work  and  boy- 
life,  yet  I  do  not  remember  that  either  of  us  broached 
the  subject  that  our  mothers  had  nearest  at  heart — 
our  Christian  purposes.  If  I  remember  rightly,  he 
attended  the  Bible-class  quite  regularly  when  we 
first  went  into  barracks. 

"After  graduating  we  met  in  Florida.  He  was 
stationed  at  some  distance  from  me,  at  Manatee.  I 
was  of  the  ordnance  department  at  Tampa  at  the  time, 
so  that  we  met  only  occasionally.  On  the  frontier, 
at  that  time,  there  was  much  drinking,  especially 
when  there  was  no  immediate  call  to  duty;    but  I 

13 


98 

never  knew  John  to  drink.     I  think  he  was  always 
reo-ular  in  all  his  habits — more  so  than  I  was. 

"In  1859,  I  was  ordered  from  Florida  to  West 
Point  as  instrnctor  in  mathematics.  Lieutenant 
Greble  became  the  same  in  English  studies.  Pro- 
fessor Church  was  my  chief,  and  professor  French, 
our  chaplain  and  English  professor,  was  his.  I  had, 
in  Florida,  found  a  personal  Saviour,  and  therefore 
sought  the  counsel  of  Mr.  French  constantly,  and 
became  very  intimate  in  his  family.  Our  friend  had 
married  his  charming  daughter,  and  our  little  families 
of  the  same  size,  bright  w^ith  fresh  hopes,  and  beau- 
tiful in  love  and  friendship,  became  very  closely 
united.  I  was  the  god-father  of  little  Clara  Greble. 
Mr.  French  baptized  all  my  house. 

"  Once  John  and  I  walked  for  hours  together,  and 

he  opened  his  heart  to  me.     I  tried  to  tell  him  of  the 

chano;e  in  me  since  he  first  knew^  me,   and  of  the 

sweet  comfort  and  iDcace  of  a  conscious  reconcilement 

with  God  through  a  risen,  real  Redeemer,  when  he 

burst  out  with  unusual  feeling,  '  O !  Howard,  I  am 

not   good,  I   cannot   even   have  good   thoughts.     I 

would  like  to  do  right,  and  be  a  Christian.     I  believe 

I  must  change  and  be  good  enough  before  I  go  to 

the  communion  or  join  the  church.'     Some  of  our 

Christian  friends  and  advisers  demanded  no  special 

evidence  of  a  '  change  of  heart ;'  only  a  declaration 

of  a  purpose  to  keep  the  ordinances  and  to  do  right 

as  far  as  permitted.     'This,'  said  Lieutenant  Greble, 

'  is  not  satisfactory  to  me.     I  want  more  of  a  token 

of  my  acceptance' 


99 

"  Such,  I  remember  to  have  been  the  substance  of 
his  remarks  to  me.  Of  course  I  tried  to  get  him  to 
spring-  forward  earnestly,  and  to  help  him  ;  but  soon 
after  this  precious  interview  we  were  separated.  The 
war  came,  and  I  went  one  Avay  and  he  another.  His 
noble  conduct  and  early  sacrifice  you  can  describe 
better  than  I.  I  believe  his  steady  heroism  was  due 
to  a  faith  in  God  deeper  than  anybody  knew  ;  a  faith 
indicated  evidently  in  that  conversation  with  me  at 
West  Point,  as  begotten  by  God's  Holy  Spirit  which 
does  not  permit  us  to  exalt  ourselves,  but  wraps  us 
in  its  own  robes.  My  interest  in  him  and  in  his 
beautiful  little  family  is  almost  too  sacred  to  speak  of. 
That  family  is  borne  daily  to  the  throne  of  grace 
w^ith  my  own  lovely  little  flock ;  and  the  time  will 
come  when  we  shall  all  be  gathered  to  meet  him  in 
that  beautiful  land  where  friendship  and  families  are 
never  broken.  His  father  laid  the  greatest  possible 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  his  country ;  and  I  thank 
you,  my  dear  Sir,  from  my  heart  for  the  comfort  you 
give  him  in  so  faithfully  seeking  out  and  portraying 
the  short  and  brilliant  career  of  my  dear  young 
friend,  who  is  to  be  remembered  in  the  history  of  this 
Republic  as  Colonel  John  T.  Greble,  an  Early 
Martyr  in  the  Struggle  for  the  new  Birth  of  Freedom 
to  this  Country. 

"  With  much  esteem,  I  remain, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"0.  0.  HOWARD, 

''Brevt.  Maj.-General  U.  S.  A." 


D     000  013  774     5 


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OCT  1 
2  WKS  FROIfi 


121994 


